diff --git a/src/Mjolnir.ts b/src/Mjolnir.ts
index d27292c..3c1c098 100644
--- a/src/Mjolnir.ts
+++ b/src/Mjolnir.ts
@@ -320,11 +320,12 @@ export class Mjolnir {
             try {
                 LogService.error("Mjolnir", "Error during startup:");
                 LogService.error("Mjolnir", extractRequestError(err));
+                this.stop();
                 await this.logMessage(LogLevel.ERROR, "Mjolnir@startup", "Startup failed due to error - see console");
+                throw err;
             } catch (e) {
-                // If we failed to handle the error, just crash
-                console.error(e);
-                process.exit(1);
+                LogService.error("Mjolnir", `Failed to report startup error to the management room: ${e}`);
+                throw err;
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index e6896a0..0ed071f 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -57,9 +57,14 @@ if (config.health.healthz.enabled) {
         config.RUNTIME.client = client;
 
         bot = await Mjolnir.setupMjolnirFromConfig(client);
+    } catch (err) {
+        console.error(`Failed to setup mjolnir from the config ${config.dataPath}: ${err}`);
+        throw err;
+    }
+    try {
         await bot.start();
     } catch (err) {
-        bot?.logMessage(LogLevel.ERROR, "index", err);
-        process.exit(1);
+        console.error(`Mjolnir failed to start: ${err}`);
+        throw err;
     }
 })();