diff --git a/src/utils/front-end-cal/main.cc b/src/utils/front-end-cal/main.cc
index ce249aa20..c6ec2ed40 100644
--- a/src/utils/front-end-cal/main.cc
+++ b/src/utils/front-end-cal/main.cc
@@ -372,8 +372,14 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 
     gr::block_sptr source;
     source = gr::blocks::file_source::make(sizeof(gr_complex), "tmp_capture.dat");
-
-    boost::shared_ptr<FrontEndCal_msg_rx> msg_rx = FrontEndCal_msg_rx_make();
+    try
+    {
+            boost::shared_ptr<FrontEndCal_msg_rx> msg_rx = FrontEndCal_msg_rx_make();
+    }
+    catch(const std::exception & e)
+    {
+            std::cout << "Failure connecting the message port system: " << e.what() << std::endl;
+    }
 
     //gr_basic_block_sptr head = gr_make_head(sizeof(gr_complex), nsamples);
     //gr_head_sptr head_sptr = boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<gr_head>(head);