diff --git a/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/ApplicationSetup.java b/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/ApplicationSetup.java
index 267ec77472..ae67130b41 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/ApplicationSetup.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/ApplicationSetup.java
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.jena.rdf.model.Model;
 import org.apache.jena.rdf.model.ModelFactory;
-
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.application.VitroHomeDirectory.HomeSourceException;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.startup.StartupStatus;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.configuration.ConfigurationBeanLoader;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.configuration.ConfigurationBeanLoaderException;
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ public void contextInitialized(ServletContextEvent sce) {
 
 			ApplicationUtils.setInstance(app);
 			ss.info(this, "Application is configured.");
+		} catch(HomeSourceException e) {
+			ss.fatal(this, e.getMessage());
 		} catch (Exception e) {
 			ss.fatal(this, "Failed to initialize the Application.", e);
 		}
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/VitroHomeDirectory.java b/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/VitroHomeDirectory.java
index be4a03c13b..3754e0244a 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/VitroHomeDirectory.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/VitroHomeDirectory.java
@@ -74,6 +74,26 @@ private void setHomeSourcePath(ServletContext context) {
         if (homeSourcePath == null) {
             throw new IllegalStateException(String.format("Application home files not found in: %s", location));
         }
+        File homeSource = new File(homeSourcePath);
+        if (!homeSource.exists()) {
+            throw new HomeSourceException(context, "doesn't exist.");
+        }
+        if (!homeSource.canRead()) {
+            throw new HomeSourceException(context, "can't be read.");
+        }
+        if (!homeSource.isDirectory()) {
+            throw new HomeSourceException(context, "is not a directory.");
+        }
+    }
+
+    public class HomeSourceException extends RuntimeException {
+        public HomeSourceException(ServletContext context, String cause) {
+            super(String.format("Home source directory %s " +
+                    cause +
+                    "<br>" +
+                    "Try to remove deployed Tomcat application directory %s and restart Tomcat.", homeSourcePath,
+                    context.getRealPath("/")));
+        }
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/api/src/test/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/VitroHomeDirectoryTest.java b/api/src/test/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/VitroHomeDirectoryTest.java
index d78071e794..1b3fcbef2f 100644
--- a/api/src/test/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/VitroHomeDirectoryTest.java
+++ b/api/src/test/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/VitroHomeDirectoryTest.java
@@ -26,11 +26,10 @@ public class VitroHomeDirectoryTest {
     @Test
     public void testGetHomeSrcPath() {
         ServletContextStub sc = new ServletContextStub();
-        String expectedPath = "/opt/tomcat/webapp/app/WEB-INF/resources/home-files";
-        sc.setRealPath("/WEB-INF/resources/home-files", expectedPath);
+        sc.setRealPath("/WEB-INF/resources/home-files", src.getRoot().getAbsolutePath());
         VitroHomeDirectory vhd = new VitroHomeDirectory(sc, dst.getRoot().toPath(), "");
         String realPath = vhd.getSourcePath();
-        assertEquals(expectedPath, realPath);
+        assertEquals(src.getRoot().getAbsolutePath(), realPath);
     }
 
     @Test