diff --git a/src/catch2/catch_session.cpp b/src/catch2/catch_session.cpp
index 3b58adbd..ed6479e0 100644
--- a/src/catch2/catch_session.cpp
+++ b/src/catch2/catch_session.cpp
@@ -257,16 +257,17 @@ namespace Catch {
         if( m_startupExceptions )
             return 1;
 
-
-        if( m_configData.shardIndex >= m_configData.shardCount ) {
-            Catch::cerr() << "The shard count (" << m_configData.shardCount << ") must be greater than the shard index ("  << m_configData.shardIndex << ")\n" << std::flush;
-            return 1;
-        }
-
         if (m_configData.showHelp || m_configData.libIdentify) {
             return 0;
         }
 
+        if ( m_configData.shardIndex >= m_configData.shardCount ) {
+            Catch::cerr() << "The shard count (" << m_configData.shardCount
+                          << ") must be greater than the shard index ("
+                          << m_configData.shardIndex << ")\n"
+                          << std::flush;
+            return 1;
+        }
 
         CATCH_TRY {
             config(); // Force config to be constructed