diff --git a/lld/ELF/Driver.cpp b/lld/ELF/Driver.cpp
--- a/lld/ELF/Driver.cpp
+++ b/lld/ELF/Driver.cpp
@@ -460,19 +460,21 @@
          s.startswith("start-stop-visibility=");
 }
 
-// Report an error for an unknown -z option.
+// Report a warning for an unknown -z option.
 static void checkZOptions(opt::InputArgList &args) {
   for (auto *arg : args.filtered(OPT_z))
     if (!isKnownZFlag(arg->getValue()))
-      error("unknown -z value: " + StringRef(arg->getValue()));
+      warn("unknown -z value: " + StringRef(arg->getValue()));
 }
 
 void LinkerDriver::linkerMain(ArrayRef<const char *> argsArr) {
   ELFOptTable parser;
   opt::InputArgList args = parser.parse(argsArr.slice(1));
 
-  // Interpret this flag early because error() depends on them.
+  // Interpret the flags early because error()/warn() depend on them.
   errorHandler().errorLimit = args::getInteger(args, OPT_error_limit, 20);
+  errorHandler().fatalWarnings =
+      args.hasFlag(OPT_fatal_warnings, OPT_no_fatal_warnings, false);
   checkZOptions(args);
 
   // Handle -help
@@ -971,8 +973,6 @@
 // Initializes Config members by the command line options.
 static void readConfigs(opt::InputArgList &args) {
   errorHandler().verbose = args.hasArg(OPT_verbose);
-  errorHandler().fatalWarnings =
-      args.hasFlag(OPT_fatal_warnings, OPT_no_fatal_warnings, false);
   errorHandler().vsDiagnostics =
       args.hasArg(OPT_visual_studio_diagnostics_format, false);
 
diff --git a/lld/test/ELF/driver.test b/lld/test/ELF/driver.test
--- a/lld/test/ELF/driver.test
+++ b/lld/test/ELF/driver.test
@@ -58,12 +58,16 @@
 # RUN: not ld.lld %t -output=/no/such/file 2>&1 | FileCheck -check-prefix=ERR9 %s
 # ERR9: cannot open output file utput=/no/such/file
 
-# RUN: not ld.lld %t -z foo 2>&1 | FileCheck -check-prefix=ERR10 %s
-# RUN: not ld.lld %t -z foo --version 2>&1 | FileCheck -check-prefix=ERR10 %s
-# ERR10: unknown -z value: foo
+# RUN: ld.lld %t -z foo 2>&1 | FileCheck -check-prefix=ERR10 %s
+# RUN: ld.lld %t -z foo --version 2>&1 | FileCheck -check-prefix=ERR10 %s
+# ERR10: warning: unknown -z value: foo
 
 ## Check we report "unknown -z value" error even with -v.
-# RUN: not ld.lld %t -z foo -v 2>&1 | FileCheck -check-prefix=ERR10 %s
+# RUN: ld.lld %t -z foo -v 2>&1 | FileCheck -check-prefix=ERR10 %s
+
+## Note: in GNU ld, --fatal-warning still leads to a warning.
+# RUN: not ld.lld %t -z foo --fatal-warnings 2>&1 | FileCheck --check-prefix=ERR10-FATAL %s
+# ERR10-FATAL: error: unknown -z value: foo
 
 # RUN: not ld.lld %t -z max-page-size 2>&1 | FileCheck -check-prefix=ERR11 %s
 # ERR11: unknown -z value: max-page-size