diff --git a/lib/new_relic/rack/metric_app.rb b/lib/new_relic/rack/metric_app.rb
index 3ce83d5c0d..91fe3718d6 100644
--- a/lib/new_relic/rack/metric_app.rb
+++ b/lib/new_relic/rack/metric_app.rb
@@ -20,8 +20,7 @@ def initialize(options)
         options[:disable_samplers] = true
         NewRelic::Agent.manual_start options
         unless NewRelic::Control.instance.license_key
-          NewRelic::Agent.logger.error "Please add a valid license key to newrelic.yml."
-          exit 1
+          raise "Please add a valid license key to newrelic.yml."
         end
       end
       def call(env)
diff --git a/test/new_relic/agent/rpm_agent_test.rb b/test/new_relic/agent/rpm_agent_test.rb
index c4c5916592..f2f6fc9365 100644
--- a/test/new_relic/agent/rpm_agent_test.rb
+++ b/test/new_relic/agent/rpm_agent_test.rb
@@ -128,8 +128,13 @@ class RpmAgentTest < Test::Unit::TestCase # ActiveSupport::TestCase
     end
     
     context "with transaction api" do
+      should "reject empty arguments" do
+        assert_raises RuntimeError do
+          NewRelic::Agent.record_transaction 0.5
+        end
+      end
       should "record a transaction" do
-        NewRelic::Agent.record_transaction 0.5, :uri => "/users/create?foo=bar"
+        NewRelic::Agent.record_transaction 0.5, 'uri' => "/users/create?foo=bar"
       end
       
     end