diff --git a/sbin/load_ConfigDb.sh b/sbin/load_ConfigDb.sh
index f7c7536892d7bfd978d31736cf2a535939acd9df..e62092969301662f5714ce88f028c97b427cc9c8 100755
--- a/sbin/load_ConfigDb.sh
+++ b/sbin/load_ConfigDb.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,10 @@
-function help()
-{
-    echo -e "\nERROR:  ${1}\nYou must provide a file that can be accessed from within the Docker container.  This is possible for files that\n\t- Have a path in \${HOME} or\n\t- Have a full file path that begins with one of \"/hosthome/\", \"/opt/lofar2.0/tango/\" or \"/opt/lofar2.0/\".\n\nWhy is that?  Because the file will be loaded from within the Docker container and only some of the host's file system directories are mounted in the container."
-    exit -2
-}
+#!/bin/bash
 
 if [ ${#} -eq 1 ]; then
     file=${1}
 else
-    help "A file name must be provided."
+    echo "A file name must be provided."
+    exit 1
 fi
 
 # copy file into container to read it from container, as the file's location
diff --git a/sbin/update_ConfigDb.sh b/sbin/update_ConfigDb.sh
index 25cb31a8554546d33d94fe1278cbaca968277488..90cf92c2418586edf3194f2b0d422040c0f8c7de 100755
--- a/sbin/update_ConfigDb.sh
+++ b/sbin/update_ConfigDb.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,10 @@
-function help()
-{
-    echo -e "\nERROR:  ${1}\nYou must provide a file that can be accessed from within the Docker container.  This is possible for files that\n\t- Have a path in \${HOME} or\n\t- Have a full file path that begins with one of \"/hosthome/\", \"/opt/lofar2.0/tango/\" or \"/opt/lofar2.0/\".\n\nWhy is that?  Because the file will be loaded from within the Docker container and only some of the host's file system directories are mounted in the container."
-    exit -2
-}
+#!/bin/bash
 
 if [ ${#} -eq 1 ]; then
     file=${1}
 else
-    help "A file name must be provided."
+    echo "A file name must be provided."
+    exit 1
 fi
 
 # copy file into container to read it from container, as the file's location