diff --git a/lib/site_settings/db_provider.rb b/lib/site_settings/db_provider.rb
index 3ad32164e98..0887e0edc4d 100644
--- a/lib/site_settings/db_provider.rb
+++ b/lib/site_settings/db_provider.rb
@@ -57,12 +57,12 @@ class SiteSettings::DbProvider
   # table is not in the db yet, initial migration, etc
   def table_exists?
     @table_exists ||= {}
-
-    unless @table_exists[current_site]
-      @table_exists[current_site] = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.table_exists?(@model.table_name)
+    begin
+      @table_exists[current_site] ||= ActiveRecord::Base.connection.table_exists?(@model.table_name)
+    rescue
+      STDERR.puts "No connection to db, unable to retrieve site settings! (normal when running db:create)"
+      @table_exists[current_site] = false
     end
-
-    @table_exists[current_site]
   end
 
 end