diff --git a/homeassistant/components/recorder/purge.py b/homeassistant/components/recorder/purge.py
index 90a69f8f2a1e0d..719f65abb4759e 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/recorder/purge.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/recorder/purge.py
@@ -28,5 +28,10 @@ def purge_old_data(instance, purge_days):
     # Execute sqlite vacuum command to free up space on disk
     _LOGGER.debug("DB engine driver: %s", instance.engine.driver)
     if instance.engine.driver == 'pysqlite':
+        from sqlalchemy import exc
+
         _LOGGER.info("Vacuuming SQLite to free space")
-        instance.engine.execute("VACUUM")
+        try:
+            instance.engine.execute("VACUUM")
+        except exc.OperationalError as err:
+            _LOGGER.error("Error vacuuming SQLite: %s.", err)