diff --git a/src/ai_python.cpp b/src/ai_python.cpp
index 5b596e0f73f..1d3a392b956 100644
--- a/src/ai_python.cpp
+++ b/src/ai_python.cpp
@@ -1967,7 +1967,10 @@ void python_ai::play_turn()
 		"err = \"unknown error\"\n"
 		"try:\n"
 		"\timport sys, traceback\n"
-		"\tsys.stderr = file(\"pyerr.txt\", \"wb\")\n"
+		"\ttry:\n"
+		"\t\tsys.stderr = file(\"pyerr.txt\", \"wb\")\n"
+		"\texcept IOError:\n"
+		"\t\tsys.stderr.write(\"Python: Could not create pyerr.txt in current directory.\\n\")\n"
 		"\tbackup = sys.path[:]\n"
 		"\tsys.path.append(\"" + path + "/data/ais\")\n"
 		"\ttry:\n"