diff --git a/compose/cli/main.py b/compose/cli/main.py
index b86c34f86..34e7f35c7 100644
--- a/compose/cli/main.py
+++ b/compose/cli/main.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ from ..const import IS_WINDOWS_PLATFORM
 from ..progress_stream import StreamOutputError
 from ..project import NoSuchService
 from ..project import OneOffFilter
+from ..project import ProjectError
 from ..service import BuildAction
 from ..service import BuildError
 from ..service import ConvergenceStrategy
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ def main():
     except (KeyboardInterrupt, signals.ShutdownException):
         log.error("Aborting.")
         sys.exit(1)
-    except (UserError, NoSuchService, ConfigurationError) as e:
+    except (UserError, NoSuchService, ConfigurationError, ProjectError) as e:
         log.error(e.msg)
         sys.exit(1)
     except BuildError as e:
diff --git a/compose/parallel.py b/compose/parallel.py
index 63417dcb0..50b2dbeaf 100644
--- a/compose/parallel.py
+++ b/compose/parallel.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def parallel_execute(objects, func, get_name, msg, get_deps=None):
     if error_to_reraise:
         raise error_to_reraise
 
-    return results
+    return results, errors
 
 
 def _no_deps(x):
diff --git a/compose/project.py b/compose/project.py
index 64ca7be76..d965c4a39 100644
--- a/compose/project.py
+++ b/compose/project.py
@@ -390,13 +390,18 @@ class Project(object):
         def get_deps(service):
             return {self.get_service(dep) for dep in service.get_dependency_names()}
 
-        results = parallel.parallel_execute(
+        results, errors = parallel.parallel_execute(
             services,
             do,
             operator.attrgetter('name'),
             None,
             get_deps
         )
+        if errors:
+            raise ProjectError(
+                'Encountered errors while bringing up the project.'
+            )
+
         return [
             container
             for svc_containers in results
@@ -531,3 +536,7 @@ class NoSuchService(Exception):
 
     def __str__(self):
         return self.msg
+
+
+class ProjectError(Exception):
+    pass
diff --git a/tests/integration/project_test.py b/tests/integration/project_test.py
index c413b9aa0..7ef492a56 100644
--- a/tests/integration/project_test.py
+++ b/tests/integration/project_test.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ from compose.const import LABEL_PROJECT
 from compose.const import LABEL_SERVICE
 from compose.container import Container
 from compose.project import Project
+from compose.project import ProjectError
 from compose.service import ConvergenceStrategy
 from tests.integration.testcases import v2_only
 
@@ -752,7 +753,8 @@ class ProjectTest(DockerClientTestCase):
             config_data=config_data,
         )
 
-        assert len(project.up()) == 0
+        with self.assertRaises(ProjectError):
+            project.up()
 
     @v2_only()
     def test_project_up_volumes(self):
diff --git a/tests/unit/parallel_test.py b/tests/unit/parallel_test.py
index 45b0db1db..479c0f1d3 100644
--- a/tests/unit/parallel_test.py
+++ b/tests/unit/parallel_test.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ def get_deps(obj):
 
 
 def test_parallel_execute():
-    results = parallel_execute(
+    results, errors = parallel_execute(
         objects=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
         func=lambda x: x * 2,
         get_name=six.text_type,
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ def test_parallel_execute():
     )
 
     assert sorted(results) == [2, 4, 6, 8, 10]
+    assert errors == {}
 
 
 def test_parallel_execute_with_deps():