diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/classfile/classLoader.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/classfile/classLoader.cpp
index b8734dcea25..8bb6a94fb85 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/classfile/classLoader.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/classfile/classLoader.cpp
@@ -1386,6 +1386,10 @@ char* ClassLoader::lookup_vm_options() {
   jio_snprintf(modules_path, JVM_MAXPATHLEN, "%s%slib%smodules", Arguments::get_java_home(), fileSep, fileSep);
   JImage_file =(*JImageOpen)(modules_path, &error);
   if (JImage_file == nullptr) {
+    if (Arguments::has_jimage()) {
+      // The modules file exists but is unreadable or corrupt
+      vm_exit_during_initialization(err_msg("Unable to load %s", modules_path));
+    }
     return nullptr;
   }