diff --git a/Sources/removemacai/SelfTest.swift b/Sources/removemacai/SelfTest.swift
index 6873e4e..614d94d 100644
--- a/Sources/removemacai/SelfTest.swift
+++ b/Sources/removemacai/SelfTest.swift
@@ -13,6 +13,20 @@ func selfTest() -> Bool {
     return false
   }
 
+  check(unknownOption(in: ["RemoveMacAI.mobileconfig", "--bogus"]) == "--bogus"
+    && unknownOption(in: ["RemoveMacAI.mobileconfig", "analytics"]) == nil,
+    "export distinguishes unknown options from tweak names")
+  let invalidProfile = FileManager.default.temporaryDirectory
+    .appendingPathComponent("removemacai-export-selftest-\(UUID().uuidString).mobileconfig")
+  defer { try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: invalidProfile) }
+  let executable = Bundle.main.executableURL?.path ?? CommandLine.arguments[0]
+  let invalidExport = Shell.run(executable, ["export", invalidProfile.path, "--bogus"])
+  let invalidExportOutput = invalidExport.output.replacingOccurrences(
+    of: #"\x1B\[[0-9;]*m"#, with: "", options: .regularExpression)
+  check(!invalidExport.ok && invalidExportOutput.contains("error: unknown option --bogus")
+    && !FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: invalidProfile.path),
+    "export rejects unknown options without writing a profile")
+
   check(Set(Catalog.setsToRemove(keeping: [])) == Set(Catalog.availableModelSets.map(\.name)),
     "off removes every model set this macOS has")
   let keptWriting = Catalog.setsToRemove(keeping: ["writing-tools"])
diff --git a/Sources/removemacai/main.swift b/Sources/removemacai/main.swift
index 1d3e243..d33e16f 100644
--- a/Sources/removemacai/main.swift
+++ b/Sources/removemacai/main.swift
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ func option(_ name: String) -> String? {
   args.removeSubrange(i...(i + 1))
   return value
 }
+func unknownOption(in args: [String]) -> String? {
+  args.first(where: { $0.hasPrefix("-") })
+}
 func presetOption() -> Preset? {
   guard let name = option("--preset") else { return nil }
   guard let preset = Preset(rawValue: name) else {
@@ -102,13 +105,13 @@ case "apply":
   let preset = presetOption()
   let dryRun = flag("--dry-run")
   let yes = flag("--yes") || flag("-y")
-  if let bad = args.first(where: { $0.hasPrefix("-") }) { Term.fail("unknown option \(bad)") }
+  if let bad = unknownOption(in: args) { Term.fail("unknown option \(bad)") }
   exit(TweakCommands.apply(ids: args, preset: preset, dryRun: dryRun, yes: yes) ? 0 : 1)
 case "undo":
   args.removeFirst()
   let dryRun = flag("--dry-run")
   let yes = flag("--yes") || flag("-y")
-  if let bad = args.first(where: { $0.hasPrefix("-") }) { Term.fail("unknown option \(bad)") }
+  if let bad = unknownOption(in: args) { Term.fail("unknown option \(bad)") }
   exit(TweakCommands.undo(ids: args, dryRun: dryRun, yes: yes) ? 0 : 1)
 case "background":
   args.removeFirst()
@@ -118,13 +121,14 @@ case "clean":
   args.removeFirst()
   let dryRun = flag("--dry-run")
   let yes = flag("--yes") || flag("-y")
-  if let bad = args.first(where: { $0.hasPrefix("-") }) { Term.fail("unknown option \(bad)") }
+  if let bad = unknownOption(in: args) { Term.fail("unknown option \(bad)") }
   exit(TweakCommands.clean(ids: args, dryRun: dryRun, yes: yes) ? 0 : 1)
 case "export":
   args.removeFirst()
   let preset = presetOption()
   let keep = Set((option("--keep") ?? "").split(separator: ",").map { String($0).trimmed }.filter { !$0.isEmpty })
   let noAI = flag("--no-ai")
+  if let bad = unknownOption(in: args) { Term.fail("unknown option \(bad)") }
   guard let path = args.first else { Term.fail("name the file to write, for example: removemacai export RemoveMacAI.mobileconfig") }
   TweakCommands.export(path: path, ids: Array(args.dropFirst()), preset: preset, keepAI: keep, noAI: noAI)
 case "selftest":