diff --git a/src/misc.cpp b/src/misc.cpp
index 17644eed..6f908fd2 100644
--- a/src/misc.cpp
+++ b/src/misc.cpp
@@ -102,6 +102,13 @@ public:
     if (!fname.empty() && !l.file.is_open())
     {
         l.file.open(fname, ifstream::out);
+
+        if (!l.file.is_open())
+        {
+            cerr << "Unable to open debug log file " << fname << endl;
+            exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+        }
+
         cin.rdbuf(&l.in);
         cout.rdbuf(&l.out);
     }