diff --git a/changelog.d/9.fixed.md b/changelog.d/9.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00b69e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/9.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix a bug in which the watcher thread might crash due to an empty `.run` file
diff --git a/joblib_htcondor/backend.py b/joblib_htcondor/backend.py
index 479e7ff..0514119 100644
--- a/joblib_htcondor/backend.py
+++ b/joblib_htcondor/backend.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import signal
 import sys
 import time
+import traceback
 from collections import deque
 from concurrent.futures import Future, ThreadPoolExecutor
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
@@ -145,6 +146,10 @@ def update_run_from_file(self, run_fname: Path) -> bool:
                 logger.warning(
                     "Error reading run timestamp from " f"{run_fname}: {e}"
                 )
+            except ValueError as e:
+                logger.warning(
+                    "Error parsing run timestamp from " f"{run_fname}: {e}"
+                )
         return out
 
     @classmethod
@@ -867,68 +872,78 @@ def _watcher(self) -> None:
         logger.info(f"Polling every {self._poll_interval} seconds.")
         logger.info(f"Throttle set to {throttle}.")
         while self._continue:
-            if (time.time() - last_poll) > self._poll_interval:
-                # Enough time passed, poll the jobs
-                n_running, update_meta = self._poll_jobs()
-                last_poll = time.time()
-                if n_running < throttle:
-                    # We don't have enough jobs int he condor queue, submit
-                    newly_queued = 0
-                    max_to_queue = throttle - n_running
-                    # First check if there are any queued jobs to be submitted
-                    while (
-                        self._queued_jobs_list and newly_queued < max_to_queue
-                    ):
-                        to_submit = self._queued_jobs_list.popleft()
-                        logger.log(
-                            level=9, msg=f"Dumping pickle file {to_submit}"
-                        )
-                        # Dump pickle file
-                        dumped = to_submit.delayed_submission.dump(
-                            to_submit.pickle_fname
-                        )
-                        if not dumped:
-                            # Something went wrong, continue and submit this
-                            # later
-                            logger.debug("Could not dump pickle file.")
-                            continue
-                        # Submit job
-                        logger.log(level=9, msg=f"Submitting job {to_submit}")
-                        to_submit.htcondor_submit_result = self._client.submit(
-                            to_submit.htcondor_submit,
-                            count=1,
-                        )
-                        logger.log(level=9, msg="Getting cluster id.")
-                        # Set the cluster id
-                        to_submit.cluster_id = (  # type: ignore
-                            to_submit.htcondor_submit_result.cluster()
-                        )
-                        logger.log(level=9, msg="Job submitted.")
-                        # Update the sent timestamp and cluster id
-                        logger.log(
-                            level=9, msg="Updating task status timestamp."
-                        )
-                        if self._export_metadata:
-                            self._backend_meta.task_status[  # type: ignore
-                                to_submit.task_id - 1
-                            ].sent_timestamp = datetime.now()
-
+            try:
+                if (time.time() - last_poll) > self._poll_interval:
+                    # Enough time passed, poll the jobs
+                    n_running, update_meta = self._poll_jobs()
+                    last_poll = time.time()
+                    if n_running < throttle:
+                        # We don't have enough jobs int he condor queue, submit
+                        newly_queued = 0
+                        max_to_queue = throttle - n_running
+                        # 1) check if there are any queued jobs to be submitted
+                        while (
+                            self._queued_jobs_list
+                            and newly_queued < max_to_queue
+                        ):
+                            to_submit = self._queued_jobs_list.popleft()
                             logger.log(
-                                level=9, msg="Updating task status cluster id."
+                                level=9, msg=f"Dumping pickle file {to_submit}"
                             )
-                            self._backend_meta.task_status[  # type: ignore
-                                to_submit.task_id - 1
-                            ].cluster_id = to_submit.cluster_id
-
-                        logger.log(level=9, msg="Task status updated")
-                        # Move to waiting jobs
-                        self._waiting_jobs_deque.append(to_submit)
-                        newly_queued += 1
-                        update_meta = True
-                if update_meta and self._export_metadata:
-                    self.write_metadata()
-            # logger.debug("Waiting 0.1 seconds")
-            time.sleep(0.1)
+                            # Dump pickle file
+                            dumped = to_submit.delayed_submission.dump(
+                                to_submit.pickle_fname
+                            )
+                            if not dumped:
+                                # Something went wrong
+                                # continue and submit this later
+                                logger.debug("Could not dump pickle file.")
+                                continue
+                            # Submit job
+                            logger.log(
+                                level=9, msg=f"Submitting job {to_submit}"
+                            )
+                            to_submit.htcondor_submit_result = (
+                                self._client.submit(
+                                    to_submit.htcondor_submit,
+                                    count=1,
+                                )
+                            )
+                            logger.log(level=9, msg="Getting cluster id.")
+                            # Set the cluster id
+                            to_submit.cluster_id = (  # type: ignore
+                                to_submit.htcondor_submit_result.cluster()
+                            )
+                            logger.log(level=9, msg="Job submitted.")
+                            # Update the sent timestamp and cluster id
+                            logger.log(
+                                level=9, msg="Updating task status timestamp."
+                            )
+                            if self._export_metadata:
+                                self._backend_meta.task_status[  # type: ignore
+                                    to_submit.task_id - 1
+                                ].sent_timestamp = datetime.now()
+
+                                logger.log(
+                                    level=9,
+                                    msg="Updating task status cluster id.",
+                                )
+                                self._backend_meta.task_status[  # type: ignore
+                                    to_submit.task_id - 1
+                                ].cluster_id = to_submit.cluster_id
+
+                            logger.log(level=9, msg="Task status updated")
+                            # Move to waiting jobs
+                            self._waiting_jobs_deque.append(to_submit)
+                            newly_queued += 1
+                            update_meta = True
+                    if update_meta and self._export_metadata:
+                        self.write_metadata()
+                # logger.debug("Waiting 0.1 seconds")
+                time.sleep(0.1)
+            except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001
+                logger.error(f"Error in HTCondor backend watcher: {e}")
+                logger.error(traceback.format_exc())
 
     def _poll_jobs(self) -> tuple[int, bool]:  # noqa: C901
         """Poll the schedd for job status.