diff --git a/common/sampling.cpp b/common/sampling.cpp
index 06dea1e1cc..27a752cc8d 100644
--- a/common/sampling.cpp
+++ b/common/sampling.cpp
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ struct common_sampler * common_sampler_init(
 #ifdef LLAMA_USE_LLGUIDANCE
         grmr = llama_sampler_init_llg(vocab, "lark", grammar_str.c_str());
 #else
-        GGML_ABORT("llguidance (cmake -DLLAMA_LLGUIDANCE=ON) is not enabled");
+        throw std::runtime_error("failed to parse grammar: llguidance is not enabled");
 #endif // LLAMA_USE_LLGUIDANCE
     } else {
         std::vector<std::string> trigger_patterns;