diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/ing/wbaa/rokku/sts/Server.scala b/src/main/scala/com/ing/wbaa/rokku/sts/Server.scala
index 641cf49..c24a054 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/ing/wbaa/rokku/sts/Server.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/ing/wbaa/rokku/sts/Server.scala
@@ -22,13 +22,19 @@ object Server extends App {
 
     override protected[this] def redisSettings: RedisSettings = RedisSettings(system)
 
-    //Connects to Redis on startup and initializes indeces
-    initializeUserSearchIndex(redisPooledConnection)
-
     registerTerminationCallback(() => {
       logger.info("Closing redis connection pool...")
       redisPooledConnection.close()
     })
 
+    //Connects to Redis on startup and initializes indeces
+    try {
+      initializeUserSearchIndex(redisPooledConnection)
+    } catch {
+      case ex: RedisSecondaryIndexException =>
+        logger.error(s"Unable to create index $UsersIndex. Error: ${ex.getMessage()}. Exiting...")
+        sys.exit(1)
+    }
+
   }.startup
 }
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/ing/wbaa/rokku/sts/service/db/RedisModel.scala b/src/main/scala/com/ing/wbaa/rokku/sts/service/db/RedisModel.scala
index 41b4628..ec8fe69 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/ing/wbaa/rokku/sts/service/db/RedisModel.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/ing/wbaa/rokku/sts/service/db/RedisModel.scala
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ trait RedisModel extends Encryption {
 
   private val DuplicateIndexExceptionMsg = "Index already exists"
 
+  case class RedisSecondaryIndexException(message: String) extends Exception
+
   object UserKey {
     def encode(username: Username): String = {
       s"$UserKeyPrefix${username.value}"
@@ -89,7 +91,7 @@ trait RedisModel extends Encryption {
           case DuplicateIndexExceptionMsg =>
             logger.info(s"Index ${UsersIndex} already exists. Continuing...")
           case _ =>
-            logger.error(s"Unable to create index $UsersIndex. Error: ${exc.getMessage()}")
+            throw new RedisSecondaryIndexException(s"Unable to create index $UsersIndex. Error: ${exc.getMessage()}")
         }
       case exc: Exception =>
         logger.error(s"Unable to create index $UsersIndex. Error: ${exc.getMessage()}")