diff --git a/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/DBCompatChecker.scala b/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/DBCompatChecker.scala
index 9ba71086f..4de76e6e3 100644
--- a/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/DBCompatChecker.scala
+++ b/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/DBCompatChecker.scala
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ object DBCompatChecker extends Logging {
   def checkDBCompatibility(nodeParams: NodeParams): Unit =
     Try(nodeParams.db.channels.listLocalChannels()) match {
       case Success(_) => {}
-      case Failure(_) => throw IncompatibleDBException
+      case Failure(exception) => throw IncompatibleDBException(exception)
     }
 
   /**
diff --git a/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/Setup.scala b/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/Setup.scala
index 240ea599c..2a248d27e 100644
--- a/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/Setup.scala
+++ b/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/Setup.scala
@@ -303,6 +303,6 @@ case object BitcoinWalletDisabledException extends RuntimeException("bitcoind mu
 
 case object EmptyAPIPasswordException extends RuntimeException("must set a password for the json-rpc api")
 
-case object IncompatibleDBException extends RuntimeException("database is not compatible with this version of eclair")
+case class IncompatibleDBException(cause: Throwable) extends RuntimeException("database is not compatible with this version of eclair", cause)
 
 case object IncompatibleNetworkDBException extends RuntimeException("network database is not compatible with this version of eclair")
diff --git a/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/db/jdbc/JdbcUtils.scala b/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/db/jdbc/JdbcUtils.scala
index 711f0b688..2fc9f4f9e 100644
--- a/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/db/jdbc/JdbcUtils.scala
+++ b/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/db/jdbc/JdbcUtils.scala
@@ -65,10 +65,17 @@ trait JdbcUtils {
    *
    * TODO: we should use an scala.Iterator instead
    */
-  def codecSequence[T](rs: ResultSet, codec: Codec[T]): Seq[T] = {
+  def codecSequence[T](rs: ResultSet, codec: Codec[T], onError: String => Unit = { _ => Unit }): Seq[T] = {
     var q: Queue[T] = Queue()
     while (rs.next()) {
-      q = q :+ codec.decode(BitVector(rs.getBytes("data"))).require.value
+      val data = BitVector(rs.getBytes("data"))
+      try {
+        q = q :+ codec.decode(data).require.value
+      } catch {
+        case t: Throwable =>
+          onError(s"unreadable data=${data.toHex}")
+          throw t
+      }
     }
     q
   }
diff --git a/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/db/sqlite/SqliteChannelsDb.scala b/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/db/sqlite/SqliteChannelsDb.scala
index 3244cbbe8..535cba1e5 100644
--- a/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/db/sqlite/SqliteChannelsDb.scala
+++ b/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/db/sqlite/SqliteChannelsDb.scala
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ class SqliteChannelsDb(sqlite: Connection) extends ChannelsDb with Logging {
   override def listLocalChannels(): Seq[HasCommitments] = withMetrics("channels/list-local-channels") {
     using(sqlite.createStatement) { statement =>
       val rs = statement.executeQuery("SELECT data FROM local_channels WHERE is_closed=0")
-      codecSequence(rs, stateDataCodec)
+      codecSequence(rs, stateDataCodec, onError = { message => logger.error(message) })
     }
   }