diff --git a/applications/utilities/postProcessing/dataConversion/foamToVTK/foamToVTK.C b/applications/utilities/postProcessing/dataConversion/foamToVTK/foamToVTK.C
index b11a5c9..bd25dbc 100644
--- a/applications/utilities/postProcessing/dataConversion/foamToVTK/foamToVTK.C
+++ b/applications/utilities/postProcessing/dataConversion/foamToVTK/foamToVTK.C
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     const bool doWriteInternal = !args.optionFound("noInternal");
     const bool doFaceZones     = !args.optionFound("noFaceZones");
     const bool doLinks         = !args.optionFound("noLinks");
-    const bool binary          = !args.optionFound("ascii");
+    bool binary                = !args.optionFound("ascii");
     const bool useTimeName     = args.optionFound("useTimeName");
 
     // decomposition of polyhedral cells into tets/pyramids cells
@@ -332,10 +332,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
     if (binary && (sizeof(floatScalar) != 4 || sizeof(label) != 4))
     {
-        FatalErrorInFunction
-            << "floatScalar and/or label are not 4 bytes in size" << nl
-            << "Hence cannot use binary VTK format. Please use -ascii"
-            << exit(FatalError);
+        Warning
+            << "floatScalar and/or label are not 4 bytes in size." << nl
+            << "Hence cannot use binary VTK format, falling back to ASCII"
+            << " output." << nl << endl;
+        binary = false;
     }
 
     const bool nearCellValue = args.optionFound("nearCellValue");