diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/ctestfw/ctest.c b/icu4c/source/tools/ctestfw/ctest.c
index 7e5c43e881..d1029b2490 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/ctestfw/ctest.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/ctestfw/ctest.c
@@ -554,9 +554,13 @@ int processArgs(const TestNode* root,
         {
             doList = TRUE;
         }
+        else if (strcmp( argv[i], "-e1") == 0)
+        {
+            QUICK = -1;
+        }
         else if (strcmp( argv[i], "-e") ==0)
         {
-            QUICK = FALSE;
+            QUICK = 0;
         }
         else if (strcmp( argv[i], "-w") ==0)
         {