diff --git a/src/db/mod.rs b/src/db/mod.rs
index 53012844f2..8d04fb6cd3 100644
--- a/src/db/mod.rs
+++ b/src/db/mod.rs
@@ -435,11 +435,29 @@ mod sqlite_migrations {
             }
         }
 
-        use diesel::{Connection, RunQueryDsl};
-        // Make sure the database is up to date (create if it doesn't exist, or run the migrations)
-        let mut connection = diesel::sqlite::SqliteConnection::establish(&crate::CONFIG.database_url())?;
+        use diesel::{result::ConnectionError::BadConnection, Connection, RunQueryDsl};
+        // Establish a connection to the sqlite database (this will create a new one, if it does
+        // not exist, and exit if there is an error).
+        let mut connection = match diesel::sqlite::SqliteConnection::establish(&url) {
+            Ok(conn) => {
+                debug!("Connected to SQLite database {url}");
+                conn
+            },
+            Err(e) => match e {
+                BadConnection(reason) => {
+                    error!("Could not establish a connection to `{url}`: {reason}");
+                    std::process::exit(1);
+                }
+                _ => {
+                    // print the error and exit
+                    error!("{e:?}");
+                    std::process::exit(1);
+                }
+            },
+        };
+
+        // Run the migrations after successfully establishing a connection
         // Disable Foreign Key Checks during migration
-
         // Scoped to a connection.
         diesel::sql_query("PRAGMA foreign_keys = OFF")
             .execute(&mut connection)