diff --git a/cmd/commands_test.go b/cmd/commands_test.go
index e26b974..5ad441d 100644
--- a/cmd/commands_test.go
+++ b/cmd/commands_test.go
@@ -94,12 +94,21 @@ func TestReadCmd(t *testing.T) {
 	test.AssertResult(t, "2\n", result.Output)
 }
 
-func TestCompareCmd(t *testing.T) {
+func TestCompareSameCmd(t *testing.T) {
 	cmd := getRootCommand()
-	result := test.RunCmd(cmd, "compare ../examples/data1.yaml ../examples/data3.yaml")
+	result := test.RunCmd(cmd, "compare ../examples/data1.yaml ../examples/data1.yaml")
 	if result.Error != nil {
 		t.Error(result.Error)
 	}
+	expectedOutput := ``
+	test.AssertResult(t, expectedOutput, result.Output)
+}
+
+func TestCompareDifferentCmd(t *testing.T) {
+	forceOsExit = false
+	cmd := getRootCommand()
+	result := test.RunCmd(cmd, "compare ../examples/data1.yaml ../examples/data3.yaml")
+
 	expectedOutput := `-a: simple # just the best
 -b: [1, 2]
 +a: "simple" # just the best
@@ -111,6 +120,7 @@ func TestCompareCmd(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestComparePrettyCmd(t *testing.T) {
+	forceOsExit = false
 	cmd := getRootCommand()
 	result := test.RunCmd(cmd, "compare -P ../examples/data1.yaml ../examples/data3.yaml")
 	if result.Error != nil {
@@ -128,6 +138,7 @@ func TestComparePrettyCmd(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestComparePathsCmd(t *testing.T) {
+	forceOsExit = false
 	cmd := getRootCommand()
 	result := test.RunCmd(cmd, "compare -P -ppv ../examples/data1.yaml ../examples/data3.yaml **")
 	if result.Error != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/compare.go b/cmd/compare.go
index a6f03a5..f11fa61 100644
--- a/cmd/compare.go
+++ b/cmd/compare.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/kylelemons/godebug/diff"
@@ -11,6 +12,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
+// turn off for unit tests :(
+var forceOsExit = true
+
 func createCompareCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	var cmdCompare = &cobra.Command{
 		Use:     "compare [yaml_file_a] [yaml_file_b]",
@@ -70,7 +74,14 @@ func compareDocuments(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return errorDoingThings
 	}
 
-	cmd.Print(diff.Diff(strings.TrimSuffix(dataBufferA.String(), "\n"), strings.TrimSuffix(dataBufferB.String(), "\n")))
-	cmd.Print("\n")
+	diffString := diff.Diff(strings.TrimSuffix(dataBufferA.String(), "\n"), strings.TrimSuffix(dataBufferB.String(), "\n"))
+
+	if len(diffString) > 1 {
+		cmd.Print(diffString)
+		cmd.Print("\n")
+		if forceOsExit {
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+	}
 	return nil
 }