diff --git a/src/bench/bench_bitcoin.cpp b/src/bench/bench_bitcoin.cpp
--- a/src/bench/bench_bitcoin.cpp
+++ b/src/bench/bench_bitcoin.cpp
@@ -81,6 +81,14 @@
     std::string scaling_str = argsman.GetArg("-scaling", DEFAULT_BENCH_SCALING);
     bool is_list_only = argsman.GetBoolArg("-list", false);
 
+    if (evaluations == 0) {
+        return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+    } else if (evaluations < 0) {
+        tfm::format(std::cerr, "Error parsing evaluations argument: %d\n",
+                    evaluations);
+        return EXIT_FAILURE;
+    }
+
     double scaling_factor;
     if (!ParseDouble(scaling_str, &scaling_factor)) {
         tfm::format(std::cerr, "Error parsing scaling factor as double: %s\n",