diff --git a/generators/server/templates/src/main/java/package/config/neo4j/Neo4jMigrations.java.ejs b/generators/server/templates/src/main/java/package/config/neo4j/Neo4jMigrations.java.ejs
index 525d7ddac3f..7560d86f5ea 100644
--- a/generators/server/templates/src/main/java/package/config/neo4j/Neo4jMigrations.java.ejs
+++ b/generators/server/templates/src/main/java/package/config/neo4j/Neo4jMigrations.java.ejs
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package <%= packageName %>.config.neo4j;
 
 import ac.simons.neo4j.migrations.core.JavaBasedMigration;
 import ac.simons.neo4j.migrations.core.MigrationContext;
+import ac.simons.neo4j.migrations.core.MigrationsException;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -46,11 +47,16 @@ final class Neo4jMigrations {
     static class V0001__CreateUsers implements JavaBasedMigration {
 
         @Override
-        public void apply(MigrationContext context) throws IOException {
+        public void apply(MigrationContext context) {
 
             ObjectMapper om = new ObjectMapper();
             ResourcePatternResolver resourcePatternResolver = new PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver();
-            Resource[] resources = resourcePatternResolver.getResources("classpath:config/neo4j/migrations/user__*.json");
+            Resource[] resources;
+            try {
+              resources = resourcePatternResolver.getResources("classpath:config/neo4j/migrations/user__*.json");
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+              throw new MigrationsException("Could not load user definition resources.", e);
+            }
 
             JavaType type = om.getTypeFactory().
                 constructMapType(Map.class, String.class, Object.class);
@@ -69,13 +75,17 @@ final class Neo4jMigrations {
             try (Session session = context.getSession()) {
 
                 for (Resource resource : resources) {
-                    Map<String, Object> user = om.readValue(resource.getInputStream(), type);
-                    user.put("user_id", UUID.randomUUID().toString());
-                    List<String> authorities = (List<String>) user.remove("authorities");
-                    user.remove("_class");
-
-                    session.writeTransaction(
-                        t -> t.run(query, Values.parameters("user", user, "authorities", authorities)).consume());
+                    try {
+                        Map<String, Object> user = om.readValue(resource.getInputStream(), type);
+                        user.put("user_id", UUID.randomUUID().toString());
+                        List<String> authorities = (List<String>) user.remove("authorities");
+                        user.remove("_class");
+
+                        session.writeTransaction(
+                            t -> t.run(query, Values.parameters("user", user, "authorities", authorities)).consume());
+                    } catch (IOException e) {
+                        throw new MigrationsException("Could not load resource " + resource.getDescription() + ".", e);
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }