diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 880a31046..d8432b03c 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ module.exports = function standardVersion (argv) {
       if (!pkg && args.gitTagFallback) {
         return latestSemverTag()
       } else if (!pkg) {
-        return Promise.reject(new Error('no package file found'))
+        throw new Error('no package file found')
       } else {
         return pkg.version
       }