diff -r 7bb85b4d5184 django/core/management/base.py
--- a/django/core/management/base.py	Mon Dec 27 15:36:04 2010 +0100
+++ b/django/core/management/base.py	Fri Jan 14 18:08:19 2011 +0100
@@ -204,16 +204,8 @@
         # But only do this if we can assume we have a working settings file,
         # because django.utils.translation requires settings.
         if self.can_import_settings:
-            try:
-                from django.utils import translation
-                translation.activate('en-us')
-            except ImportError, e:
-                # If settings should be available, but aren't,
-                # raise the error and quit.
-                sys.stderr.write(smart_str(self.style.ERROR('Error: %s\n' % e)))
-                sys.exit(1)
+            from django.utils import translation
+            translation.activate('en-us')
         try:
             self.stdout = options.get('stdout', sys.stdout)
             self.stderr = options.get('stderr', sys.stderr)