diff --git a/multinode-demo/leader.sh b/multinode-demo/leader.sh
index 65ece0c44..103cb862c 100755
--- a/multinode-demo/leader.sh
+++ b/multinode-demo/leader.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 export RUST_LOG=solana=info
 sudo sysctl -w net.core.rmem_max=26214400
-cat genesis.log leader.log | cargo run --release --features cuda --bin solana-fullnode -- -s leader.json -l leader.json -b 8000 -d 2>&1 | tee leader-tee.log
+rm leader.log
+export RUST_BACKTRACE=1
+cat genesis.log leader.log | cargo run --features cuda --bin solana-fullnode -- -s leader.json -l leader.json -b 8000 -d 2>&1 | tee leader-tee.log
diff --git a/src/bin/fullnode.rs b/src/bin/fullnode.rs
index 8cf0dac0a..19a6b5c24 100644
--- a/src/bin/fullnode.rs
+++ b/src/bin/fullnode.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ extern crate isatty;
 extern crate pnet;
 extern crate serde_json;
 extern crate solana;
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate log;
 
 use getopts::Options;
 use isatty::stdin_isatty;
@@ -134,8 +136,12 @@ fn main() {
     let mut repl_data = make_repl_data(&bind_addr);
     if matches.opt_present("l") {
         let path = matches.opt_str("l").unwrap();
-        if let Ok(file) = File::open(path) {
-            repl_data = serde_json::from_reader(file).expect("parse");
+        if let Ok(file) = File::open(path.clone()) {
+            if let Ok(data) = serde_json::from_reader(file) {
+                repl_data = data;
+            } else {
+                warn!("failed to parse leader {}, generating new identity", path);
+            }
         }
     }
     let threads = if matches.opt_present("v") {