diff --git a/src/view/view.cpp b/src/view/view.cpp
index 197b29e83..a759fddbf 100644
--- a/src/view/view.cpp
+++ b/src/view/view.cpp
@@ -173,7 +173,14 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv){
     std::array<char, 128> errbuf;
     int frames = 0;
     int averr;
-    auto ncv = std::make_unique<Visual>(argv[i], &averr, 1, 0, stretchmode);
+    std::unique_ptr<Visual> ncv;
+    try{
+      ncv = std::make_unique<Visual>(argv[i], &averr, 1, 0, stretchmode);
+    }catch(std::exception& e){
+      nc.stop();
+      std::cerr << argv[i] << ": " << e.what() << "\n";
+      return EXIT_FAILURE;
+    }
     if(!ncv){
       av_make_error_string(errbuf.data(), errbuf.size(), averr);
       nc.stop();