diff --git a/plugins/sqlite/handle.js b/plugins/sqlite/handle.js
index 670aef2f2..f1b502047 100644
--- a/plugins/sqlite/handle.js
+++ b/plugins/sqlite/handle.js
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ if(mode === 'realtime' || mode === 'importer') {
 }
 
 var db = new sqlite3.Database(fullPath);
-db.run('PRAGMA journal_mode = ' + config.sqlite.journalMode||'WAL');
+db.run("PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL");
+db.configure('busyTimeout', 1500);
 
 module.exports = db;
diff --git a/plugins/sqlite/writer.js b/plugins/sqlite/writer.js
index aeade0ea3..08de137f1 100644
--- a/plugins/sqlite/writer.js
+++ b/plugins/sqlite/writer.js
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ var config = require('../../core/util.js').getConfig();
 
 var handle = require('./handle');
 var sqliteUtil = require('./util');
+var util = require('../../core/util');
+var log = require('../../core/log');
 
 var Store = function(done, pluginMeta) {
   _.bindAll(this);
@@ -52,7 +54,12 @@ Store.prototype.writeCandles = function() {
   var stmt = this.db.prepare(`
     INSERT OR IGNORE INTO ${sqliteUtil.table('candles')}
     VALUES (?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?)
-  `);
+  `, function(err, rows) {
+      if(err) {
+        log.error(err);
+        return util.die('DB error at INSERT: '+ err);
+      }
+    });
 
   _.each(this.cache, candle => {
     stmt.run(