diff --git a/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc b/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc
index 301f3049ca..672555ca79 100644
--- a/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc
+++ b/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc
@@ -262,6 +262,7 @@ function plugins_configure($hook, $verbose = false, $args = [])
 {
     $logargs = [];
     $glob = '*';
+    $ret = 1; /* no hook executed */
 
     array_unshift($args, $verbose);
 
@@ -318,6 +319,7 @@ function plugins_configure($hook, $verbose = false, $args = [])
                             $argf,
                             implode(',', array_slice($logargs, 0, $argc))
                         ), LOG_DEBUG);
+                        $ret = 0;
                         try {
                             call_user_func_array($argf, array_slice($args, 0, $argc));
                         } catch (\Error $e) {
@@ -328,6 +330,8 @@ function plugins_configure($hook, $verbose = false, $args = [])
             }
         }
     }
+
+    return $ret;
 }
 
 function plugins_run($hook, $args = [])
diff --git a/src/sbin/pluginctl b/src/sbin/pluginctl
index dfc5f1e2b6..7f48884a63 100755
--- a/src/sbin/pluginctl
+++ b/src/sbin/pluginctl
@@ -344,7 +344,11 @@ if (isset($opts['h'])) {
     /* second argument is hook */
     $hook = array_shift($args);
     /* other arguments are passed as is */
-    plugins_configure($hook, !isset($opts['q']), $args);
+    $ret_int = plugins_configure($hook, !isset($opts['q']), $args);
+    /* cannot taint $ret in this case */
+    if ($ret_int && !isset($opts['q'])) {
+        echo "The configuration hook `$hook' is not known to the system." . PHP_EOL;
+    }
 }
 
 exit($ret);