diff --git a/src/Simplex/Messaging/Agent/Store/SQLite.hs b/src/Simplex/Messaging/Agent/Store/SQLite.hs
index ff99f04b6..11b737893 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Messaging/Agent/Store/SQLite.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Messaging/Agent/Store/SQLite.hs
@@ -78,12 +78,16 @@ data SQLiteStore = SQLiteStore
 
 createSQLiteStore :: FilePath -> Int -> [Migration] -> Bool -> IO SQLiteStore
 createSQLiteStore dbFilePath poolSize migrations yesToMigrations = do
-  let dbDir = takeDirectory dbFilePath
-  createDirectoryIfMissing False dbDir
-  st <- connectSQLiteStore dbFilePath poolSize
-  checkThreadsafe st
-  migrateSchema st migrations yesToMigrations
-  pure st
+  createStore
+    `E.catch` \(e :: E.SomeException) -> putStrLn ("exception: " <> show e) >> E.throwIO e
+  where
+    createStore = do
+      let dbDir = takeDirectory dbFilePath
+      createDirectoryIfMissing False dbDir
+      st <- connectSQLiteStore dbFilePath poolSize
+      checkThreadsafe st
+      migrateSchema st migrations yesToMigrations
+      pure st
 
 checkThreadsafe :: SQLiteStore -> IO ()
 checkThreadsafe st = withConnection st $ \db -> do