diff --git a/packages/ctl/ctl.js b/packages/ctl/ctl.js
index 04c50c73..6ddc1d09 100755
--- a/packages/ctl/ctl.js
+++ b/packages/ctl/ctl.js
@@ -1082,7 +1082,7 @@ async function startControl() {
 			await controlConfig.init();
 
 		} else {
-			throw err;
+			throw new libErrors.StartupError(`Failed to load ${args.config}: ${err.message}`);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/packages/master/master.js b/packages/master/master.js
index ce2bb4ee..4e58b2c8 100755
--- a/packages/master/master.js
+++ b/packages/master/master.js
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ async function initialize() {
 			await parameters.masterConfig.init();
 
 		} else {
-			throw err;
+			throw new libErrors.StartupError(`Failed to load ${parameters.masterConfigPath}: ${err.message}`);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/packages/slave/slave.js b/packages/slave/slave.js
index 11fe8b83..fa53bfde 100755
--- a/packages/slave/slave.js
+++ b/packages/slave/slave.js
@@ -1777,7 +1777,7 @@ async function startSlave() {
 			await slaveConfig.init();
 
 		} else {
-			throw err;
+			throw new libErrors.StartupError(`Failed to load ${args.config}: ${err.message}`);
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -1887,6 +1887,14 @@ I           version of clusterio.  Expect things to break. I
 		if (err instanceof libErrors.AuthenticationFailed) {
 			logger.fatal(err.message);
 
+		} else if (err instanceof libErrors.StartupError) {
+			logger.fatal(`
++-----------------------------------+
+| Unable to to start clusterioslave |
++-----------------------------------+
+${err.stack}`
+			);
+
 		} else if (err instanceof libErrors.PluginError) {
 			logger.fatal(`
 ${err.pluginName} plugin threw an unexpected error