diff --git a/teku/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/teku/cli/BeaconNodeCommand.java b/teku/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/teku/cli/BeaconNodeCommand.java
index 47b3b405da3..4d5ca4bd89e 100644
--- a/teku/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/teku/cli/BeaconNodeCommand.java
+++ b/teku/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/teku/cli/BeaconNodeCommand.java
@@ -243,8 +243,12 @@ public int parse(final String[] args) {
     final AdditionalParamsProvider additionalParamsProvider =
         additionalParamsProvider(commandLine, configFile);
 
-    final Map<String, String> additionalParams =
-        additionalParamsProvider.getAdditionalParams(potentialAdditionalParams);
+    final Map<String, String> additionalParams;
+    try {
+      additionalParams = additionalParamsProvider.getAdditionalParams(potentialAdditionalParams);
+    } catch (ParameterException e) {
+      return handleParseException(e, args);
+    }
 
     // build new argument list by concatenating original args and the additional params
     final String[] enrichedArgs =
diff --git a/teku/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/teku/cli/BeaconNodeCommandTest.java b/teku/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/teku/cli/BeaconNodeCommandTest.java
index 25525f054a2..e00a3e385bf 100644
--- a/teku/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/teku/cli/BeaconNodeCommandTest.java
+++ b/teku/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/teku/cli/BeaconNodeCommandTest.java
@@ -93,6 +93,19 @@ public void unknownOptionShouldDisplayShortHelpMessage() {
     assertThat(str).doesNotContain("Default");
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void unknownOptionInConfigFileShouldDisplayShortHelpMessage() throws IOException {
+    final Path configFile = createInvalidConfigFile();
+    final String[] args = {CONFIG_FILE_OPTION_NAME, configFile.toString()};
+
+    beaconNodeCommand.parse(args);
+    String str = getCommandLineOutput();
+    assertThat(str).contains("Unknown option");
+    assertThat(str).contains("To display full help:");
+    assertThat(str).contains("--help");
+    assertThat(str).doesNotContain("Default");
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void unmatchedOptionsNotAllowedAsOptionParameters() {
     final String[] args = {"--eth1-endpoints http://localhost:8545 --foo"};
@@ -320,7 +333,7 @@ public void shouldSetNatMethod() {
   }
 
   private Path createConfigFile() throws IOException {
-    final URL configFile = this.getClass().getResource("/complete_config.yaml");
+    final URL configFile = BeaconNodeCommandTest.class.getResource("/complete_config.yaml");
     final String updatedConfig =
         Resources.toString(configFile, UTF_8)
             .replace(
@@ -329,6 +342,13 @@ private Path createConfigFile() throws IOException {
     return createTempFile(updatedConfig.getBytes(UTF_8));
   }
 
+  private Path createInvalidConfigFile() throws IOException {
+    final URL configFile = BeaconNodeCommandTest.class.getResource("/complete_config.yaml");
+    final String updatedConfig =
+        Resources.toString(configFile, UTF_8).replace("network:", "xnetwork:");
+    return createTempFile(updatedConfig.getBytes(UTF_8));
+  }
+
   private String[] createCliArgs() {
     return new String[] {
       "--network",