diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 0f58b5e..fba4bde 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -325,7 +325,10 @@ Runner.prototype = {
     // The default is 0, ie wipe at start of each run.
     // Later, this can be configurable in the UI.
     keeper({baseDir: branchBase, count: recentBuilds - 1}, function (err) {
-      if (err) return next(err);
+      if (err) {
+        debug('Error encountered clearing data directory', err.message);
+        return next(err);
+      }
 
       initJobDirs(branchBase, job, cache.base, jobDirsReady);
     });