diff --git a/briar-core/src/net/sf/briar/db/H2Database.java b/briar-core/src/net/sf/briar/db/H2Database.java
index d0dfa1da65f6e0256a62fbf175b6702e87ee1b88..a9de1ad248b45e3b2b6ea82d7744bb4fac41b999 100644
--- a/briar-core/src/net/sf/briar/db/H2Database.java
+++ b/briar-core/src/net/sf/briar/db/H2Database.java
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class H2Database extends JdbcDatabase {
 
 	protected Connection createConnection() throws SQLException {
 		byte[] key = config.getEncryptionKey();
-		if(key == null) throw new IllegalStateException();
+		if(key == null) return null;
 		char[] password = encodePassword(key);
 		Properties props = new Properties();
 		props.setProperty("user", "user");