diff --git a/github-fast-env.rb b/github-fast-env.rb
index fad8d77..9c679e6 100755
--- a/github-fast-env.rb
+++ b/github-fast-env.rb
@@ -35,8 +35,6 @@ script_path = File.realpath(ARGV[0])
 
 control_socket_path = "/tmp/github-fast-envd.sock"
 
-$control_socket = UNIXSocket.new(control_socket_path)
-
 $original_stdin = $stdin.dup
 $original_stdout = $stdout.dup
 $original_stderr = $stderr.dup
@@ -47,6 +45,13 @@ def log(level, message)
 	end
 end
 
+begin
+	$control_socket = UNIXSocket.new(control_socket_path)
+rescue StandardError => error
+	log "error", "could not connect to github-fast-envd socket"
+	exit 1
+end
+
 $remote_process_id = nil
 
 Signal.trap("HUP") do