diff --git a/src/training/lstmtraining.cpp b/src/training/lstmtraining.cpp
index fd365423..8852a5ce 100644
--- a/src/training/lstmtraining.cpp
+++ b/src/training/lstmtraining.cpp
@@ -112,7 +112,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
   tesseract::LSTMTrainer trainer(FLAGS_model_output.c_str(), checkpoint_file.c_str(),
                                  FLAGS_debug_interval,
                                  static_cast<int64_t>(FLAGS_max_image_MB) * 1048576);
-  trainer.InitCharSet(FLAGS_traineddata.c_str());
+  if (!trainer.InitCharSet(FLAGS_traineddata.c_str())) {
+    tprintf("Error, failed to read %s\n", FLAGS_traineddata.c_str());
+    return EXIT_FAILURE;
+  }
 
   // Reading something from an existing model doesn't require many flags,
   // so do it now and exit.
diff --git a/src/training/unicharset/lstmtrainer.h b/src/training/unicharset/lstmtrainer.h
index cdebf989..292b2ef5 100644
--- a/src/training/unicharset/lstmtrainer.h
+++ b/src/training/unicharset/lstmtrainer.h
@@ -95,9 +95,12 @@ public:
   // Initializes the character set encode/decode mechanism directly from a
   // previously setup traineddata containing dawgs, UNICHARSET and
   // UnicharCompress. Note: Call before InitNetwork!
-  void InitCharSet(const std::string &traineddata_path) {
-    ASSERT_HOST(mgr_.Init(traineddata_path.c_str()));
-    InitCharSet();
+  bool InitCharSet(const std::string &traineddata_path) {
+    bool success = mgr_.Init(traineddata_path.c_str());
+    if (success) {
+      InitCharSet();
+    }
+    return success;
   }
   void InitCharSet(const TessdataManager &mgr) {
     mgr_ = mgr;