diff --git a/db/db_impl_open.cc b/db/db_impl_open.cc
index 2a3374156..51c9fb7ca 100644
--- a/db/db_impl_open.cc
+++ b/db/db_impl_open.cc
@@ -421,7 +421,10 @@ Status DBImpl::Recover(
     // produced by an older version of rocksdb.
     std::vector<std::string> filenames;
     s = env_->GetChildren(immutable_db_options_.wal_dir, &filenames);
-    if (!s.ok()) {
+    if (s.IsNotFound()) {
+      return Status::InvalidArgument("wal_dir not found",
+                                     immutable_db_options_.wal_dir);
+    } else if (!s.ok()) {
       return s;
     }