diff --git a/dblayer.php b/dblayer.php
index 5528b38..3ad8ccb 100644
--- a/dblayer.php
+++ b/dblayer.php
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ class dblayer extends PDO
                              "The SQLite database file is write protected"),
                              500);
       if (function_exists ("posix_getuid") &&
+          file_exists ($file) &&
           fileowner ($file) === posix_getuid ())
         chmod ($file, 0666);
       try