diff --git a/src/test/java/io/nats/client/NatsTestServer.java b/src/test/java/io/nats/client/NatsTestServer.java
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/nats/client/NatsTestServer.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/nats/client/NatsTestServer.java
@@ -165,6 +165,8 @@ public class NatsTestServer implements AutoCloseable {
             System.out.println("\t" + ex.getMessage());

             System.out.println("%%% Make sure that gnatsd is installed and in your PATH.");

             System.out.println("%%% See https://github.com/nats-io/gnatsd for information on installing gnatsd");

+

+            throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to run [" + this.cmdLine +"]");

         }

     }
Added illegalstate exception when test server can't run