diff --git a/src/c++/error_handler.cpp b/src/c++/error_handler.cpp
index acd47992..62295144 100644
--- a/src/c++/error_handler.cpp
+++ b/src/c++/error_handler.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
 
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <string>
 
@@ -21,6 +22,13 @@
 meto::error_handler::error_handler(const std::string &customError,
                                    int errorCode) {
   MPI_Comm comm = MPI_COMM_WORLD;
+  int flag = 0;
+
   std::cerr << customError << "\n";
-  MPI_Abort(comm, errorCode);
+
+  if (MPI_Initialized(&flag)) {
+    MPI_Abort(comm, errorCode);
+  } else {
+    std::exit(errorCode);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/c++/mpi_context.cpp b/src/c++/mpi_context.cpp
index 551273af..72e8b7b3 100644
--- a/src/c++/mpi_context.cpp
+++ b/src/c++/mpi_context.cpp
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ int meto::MPIContext::get_size() { return comm_size_; }
  * @returns The MPI communicator handle.
  */
 
-int meto::MPIContext::get_handle() { return comm_handle_; }
+MPI_Comm meto::MPIContext::get_handle() { return comm_handle_; }
 
 /**
  * @brief Gets the identifying tag.
diff --git a/src/c++/mpi_context.h b/src/c++/mpi_context.h
index cb6668a7..ce0baabd 100644
--- a/src/c++/mpi_context.h
+++ b/src/c++/mpi_context.h
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class MPIContext {
   // Getters
   int get_size();
   int get_rank();
-  int get_handle();
+  MPI_Comm get_handle();
 
   std::string get_tag() const;
 };