1 files changed, 5 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/yt_dlp/options.py b/yt_dlp/options.py
index ab4986515..14b030cfb 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/options.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/options.py
@@ -196,9 +196,12 @@ class _YoutubeDLOptionParser(optparse.OptionParser):
                     raise
         return self.check_values(self.values, self.largs)
 
-    def error(self, msg):
+    def _generate_error_message(self, msg):
         msg = f'{self.get_prog_name()}: error: {str(msg).strip()}\n'
-        raise optparse.OptParseError(f'{self.get_usage()}\n{msg}' if self.usage else msg)
+        return f'{self.get_usage()}\n{msg}' if self.usage else msg
+
+    def error(self, msg):
+        raise optparse.OptParseError(self._generate_error_message(msg))
 
     def _get_args(self, args):
         return sys.argv[1:] if args is None else list(args)