diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index a0c90e0a7..ebe176a5e 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -141,10 +141,19 @@ bool AppInit2(int argc, char* argv[])
 
     if (mapArgs.count("-datadir"))
     {
-        filesystem::path pathDataDir = filesystem::system_complete(mapArgs["-datadir"]);
-        strlcpy(pszSetDataDir, pathDataDir.string().c_str(), sizeof(pszSetDataDir));
+        if (filesystem::is_directory(filesystem::system_complete(mapArgs["-datadir"])))
+        {
+            filesystem::path pathDataDir = filesystem::system_complete(mapArgs["-datadir"]);
+            strlcpy(pszSetDataDir, pathDataDir.string().c_str(), sizeof(pszSetDataDir));
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Error: Specified directory does not exist\n");
+            Shutdown(NULL);
+        }
     }
 
+
     ReadConfigFile(mapArgs, mapMultiArgs); // Must be done after processing datadir
 
     if (mapArgs.count("-?") || mapArgs.count("--help"))