diff --git a/us/cli/states.py b/us/cli/states.py
index ae79819..c075ad4 100644
--- a/us/cli/states.py
+++ b/us/cli/states.py
@@ -31,7 +31,11 @@ def main():
         for key in sorted(data.keys()):
             val = data[key]
 
-            if isinstance(val, (list, tuple)):
+            if key == "counties":
+                # counties is a list of County objects, not strings, so it
+                # can't be joined like the other list attributes
+                val = "%d counties" % len(val)
+            elif isinstance(val, (list, tuple)):
                 val = ", ".join(val)
 
             sys.stdout.write("    %s: %s\n" % (key, val))
diff --git a/us/tests/test_us.py b/us/tests/test_us.py
index b98482f..4c1d4d3 100644
--- a/us/tests/test_us.py
+++ b/us/tests/test_us.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import pytz
 
 import us
+from us.cli import states as states_cli
 from us.states import County
 
 # attribute
@@ -246,6 +247,19 @@ def test_dc():
     assert us.states.DC not in us.STATES
 
 
+# cli
+
+
+def test_cli_lookup(capsys, monkeypatch):
+    # the counties attribute is a list of County objects, which used to crash
+    # the "other attributes" loop when it tried to join them as strings
+    monkeypatch.setattr("sys.argv", ["states", "MD"])
+    states_cli.main()
+    out = capsys.readouterr().out
+    assert "Maryland" in out
+    assert "counties" in out
+
+
 # shapefiles