diff --git a/src/fitting/ensemble-samplers/emcee.sl b/src/fitting/ensemble-samplers/emcee.sl
index 1df2f69583adcd9e597545072e9fc8b59dadfea5..baaa3580ebbd73d036b83b194422108f3fd736af 100644
--- a/src/fitting/ensemble-samplers/emcee.sl
+++ b/src/fitting/ensemble-samplers/emcee.sl
@@ -1958,7 +1958,7 @@ private define file_exists (filename) %{{{
 private define emceeSetup (ship, steps, options) %{{{
 {
   variable leader, size, engine;
-  variable j, set;
+  variable j, set, err;
   
   engine = ship.engine;
   if (0 == engine.id) {
@@ -1995,7 +1995,15 @@ private define emceeSetup (ship, steps, options) %{{{
 
 	throw ReadError, sprintf("File '%s' does not exist", options.output.filename);
       }
-      options.output.open(engine);
+      try (err) {
+	options.output.open(engine);
+      }
+      catch AnyError:
+      {
+	if (ship.abort != NULL)
+	  ship.abort();
+	throw err.error, err.message; % forward error, make sure we aborted
+      }
     }
     else
     {
@@ -2009,7 +2017,15 @@ private define emceeSetup (ship, steps, options) %{{{
 
 	throw WriteError, sprintf("File '%s' exists.", options.output.filename);
       }
-      options.output.create(engine);
+      try (err) {
+	options.output.create(engine);
+      }
+      catch AnyError:
+      {
+	if (ship.abort != NULL)
+	  ship.abort();
+	throw err.error, err.message; % forward error
+      }
     }
 
     leader = engine.leader;