diff --git a/cloudcontrol/node/host/__init__.py b/cloudcontrol/node/host/__init__.py
index 813c034dab78067dc35e2b00f431d481d29fdf72..64092be2e0b83fc291e16ef0df952211920f2a0d 100644
--- a/cloudcontrol/node/host/__init__.py
+++ b/cloudcontrol/node/host/__init__.py
@@ -193,8 +193,13 @@ class Handler(BasePlugin):
         self.shells = dict()
 
         #: jobs manager (different from MainLoop.jobs_manager)
-        self.jobs_manager = JobsManager(logger, NodeJobsManagerInterface(self),
-                                       JobsStore(self.main.config.jobs_store_path))
+        try:
+            self.jobs_manager = JobsManager(logger, NodeJobsManagerInterface(self),
+                                           JobsStore(self.main.config.jobs_store_path))
+        except EnvironmentError as e:
+            logger.critical('Cannot access jobs directory: %s', e.strerror)
+            self.main.stop()
+            raise
 
         #: loaded plugins
         self.plugins = {}  # plugin name -> plugin object