diff --git a/rules/phlanprof.smk b/rules/phlanprof.smk
index 150b1365797d5b4a047c2b2395dede62cce9281a..d25dac313be53b6b2d88510317600ce87a1a2784 100644
--- a/rules/phlanprof.smk
+++ b/rules/phlanprof.smk
@@ -305,7 +305,8 @@ rule strphlan_clade_profiling:
         {input.samples_metadata} \
         {output.clade_result_dir}/{wildcards.clade}.fasta \
         {output.clade_result_dir}/RAxML_bestTree.{wildcards.clade}.tree_1.png \
-        {output.clade_result_dir}/RAxML_bestTree.{wildcards.clade}.tree_2.png; fi') &>{log}
+        {output.clade_result_dir}/RAxML_bestTree.{wildcards.clade}.tree_2.png || \
+        echo "strainphlan_ggtree.R halted with non-zero exit status!"; fi') &>{log}
         '''
 
 def aggregate_clade_profiles(wildcards):