diff --git a/esptool/targets/esp32s2.py b/esptool/targets/esp32s2.py
index 6af2842f7..6eed426e4 100644
--- a/esptool/targets/esp32s2.py
+++ b/esptool/targets/esp32s2.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import os
 import struct
+import warnings
 from typing import Dict
 
 from .esp32 import ESP32ROM
@@ -296,15 +297,15 @@ def _check_if_can_reset(self):
             strap_reg & self.GPIO_STRAP_SPI_BOOT_MASK == 0
             and force_dl_reg & self.RTC_CNTL_FORCE_DOWNLOAD_BOOT_MASK == 0
         ):
-            print(
+            warnings.warn(
                 "WARNING: {} chip was placed into download mode using GPIO0.\n"
                 "esptool.py can not exit the download mode over USB. "
                 "To run the app, reset the chip manually.\n"
                 "To suppress this note, set --after option to 'no_reset'.".format(
                     self.get_chip_description()
-                )
+                ),
+                UserWarning
             )
-            raise SystemExit(1)
 
     def hard_reset(self):
         uses_usb_otg = self.uses_usb_otg()
diff --git a/esptool/targets/esp32s3.py b/esptool/targets/esp32s3.py
index 06fb129eb..37b6efc3b 100644
--- a/esptool/targets/esp32s3.py
+++ b/esptool/targets/esp32s3.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import os
 import struct
+import warnings
 from typing import Dict
 
 from .esp32 import ESP32ROM
@@ -358,15 +359,15 @@ def _check_if_can_reset(self):
             strap_reg & self.GPIO_STRAP_SPI_BOOT_MASK == 0
             and force_dl_reg & self.RTC_CNTL_FORCE_DOWNLOAD_BOOT_MASK == 0
         ):
-            print(
+            warnings.warn(
                 "WARNING: {} chip was placed into download mode using GPIO0.\n"
                 "esptool.py can not exit the download mode over USB. "
                 "To run the app, reset the chip manually.\n"
                 "To suppress this note, set --after option to 'no_reset'.".format(
                     self.get_chip_description()
-                )
+                ),
+                UserWarning
             )
-            raise SystemExit(1)
 
     def hard_reset(self):
         uses_usb_otg = self.uses_usb_otg()