diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/irb/hirb.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/irb/hirb.rb
index 7fc40912489..713cb848c76 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/irb/hirb.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/irb/hirb.rb
@@ -118,6 +118,8 @@ module IRB
           rescue Interrupt => exc
           rescue SystemExit, SignalException
             raise
+          rescue SyntaxError => exc
+            raise exc unless @interactive
           rescue NameError => exc
             raise exc unless @interactive
             # HBASE-26880: Ignore NameError to prevent exiting Shell on mistyped commands.