diff --git a/binarycpython/utils/grid.py b/binarycpython/utils/grid.py
index 524d637437473197e25c2287e50f69007b44c472..3bb91d280fc4f94c4b8aa3c2f2507d59366aab5e 100644
--- a/binarycpython/utils/grid.py
+++ b/binarycpython/utils/grid.py
@@ -5011,8 +5011,12 @@ eccentricity3=0
         # make the directories: we do not allow these to already exist
         # as the slurm directory should be a fresh location for each set of jobs
         for dir in dirs:
-            pathlib.Path(self.slurmpath(dir)).mkdir(exist_ok=False,
-                                                    parents=True)
+            try:
+                pathlib.Path(self.slurmpath(dir)).mkdir(exist_ok=False,
+                                                        parents=True)
+            except:
+                print("Tried to make the directory {dir} but it already exists. When you launch a set of binary_c jobs on Slurm, you need to set your slurm_dir to be a fresh directory with no contents.")
+                sys.exit()
 
         # check that they have been made and exist: we need this
         # because on network mounts (NFS) there's often a delay between the mkdir