diff --git a/cate/core/ds.py b/cate/core/ds.py
index ee40e3782..4379d3f90 100644
--- a/cate/core/ds.py
+++ b/cate/core/ds.py
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@
 import glob
 from abc import ABCMeta, abstractmethod
 from math import ceil, sqrt
+import sys
 from typing import Sequence, Optional, Union, Tuple, Any
 
 import xarray as xr
@@ -421,6 +422,33 @@ def _repr_html_(self):
 DATA_STORE_REGISTRY = DataStoreRegistry()
 
 
+# noinspection PyArgumentList
+class DataSourceInitializationError(Exception):
+    """
+    Exceptions produced by Cate's DataStore during DataSource initialization.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, cause, *args, **kwargs):
+        if isinstance(cause, Exception):
+            super(DataSourceInitializationError, self).__init__(str(cause), *args, **kwargs)
+            _, _, traceback = sys.exc_info()
+            self.with_traceback(traceback)
+        elif isinstance(cause, str):
+            super(DataSourceInitializationError, self).__init__(cause, *args, **kwargs)
+        else:
+            super(DataSourceInitializationError, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self._cause = cause
+
+    @property
+    def cause(self):
+        return self._cause
+
+
+class DataSourceInitializationWarning(UserWarning):
+    """
+    Warnings produced by Cate's DataStore during DataSource initialization.
+    """
+
+
 def find_data_sources(data_stores: Union[DataStore, Sequence[DataStore]] = None,
                       ds_id: str = None,
                       query_expr: str = None) -> Sequence[DataSource]:
diff --git a/cate/ds/local.py b/cate/ds/local.py
index b53a99db5..eb2dcac94 100644
--- a/cate/ds/local.py
+++ b/cate/ds/local.py
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 import psutil
 import shutil
 import uuid
+import warnings
 import xarray as xr
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from datetime import datetime
@@ -53,7 +54,8 @@
 
 from cate.conf import get_config_value, get_data_stores_path
 from cate.conf.defaults import NETCDF_COMPRESSION_LEVEL
-from cate.core.ds import DATA_STORE_REGISTRY, DataStore, DataSource, open_xarray_dataset
+from cate.core.ds import DATA_STORE_REGISTRY, DataStore, DataSource, DataSourceInitializationError, \
+    DataSourceInitializationWarning, open_xarray_dataset
 from cate.core.types import Polygon, PolygonLike, TimeRange, TimeRangeLike, VarNames, VarNamesLike
 from cate.util.monitor import Monitor
 
@@ -653,16 +655,18 @@ def __init__(self, ds_id: str, store_dir: str):
 
     def add_pattern(self, data_source_id: str, files: Union[str, Sequence[str]] = None) -> 'DataSource':
         data_source = self.create_data_source(data_source_id)
-        if isinstance(files, str):
+        if isinstance(files, str) and len(files) > 0:
             files = [files]
         is_first_file = True
-        if files:
-            for file in files:
-                if is_first_file:
-                    data_source.add_dataset(file, extract_meta_info=True)
-                    is_first_file = False
-                else:
-                    data_source.add_dataset(file)
+        if not files:
+            raise ValueError("files pattern cannot be empty")
+        for file in files:
+            if is_first_file:
+                data_source.add_dataset(file, extract_meta_info=True)
+                is_first_file = False
+            else:
+                data_source.add_dataset(file)
+
         self.register_ds(data_source)
         return data_source
 
@@ -787,7 +791,12 @@ def _repr_html_(self):
             rows.append('<tr><td><strong>%s</strong></td><td>%s</td></tr>' % (row_count, data_source._repr_html_()))
         return '<p>Contents of LocalFilePatternDataStore "%s"</p><table>%s</table>' % (self.id, '\n'.join(rows))
 
-    def _init_data_sources(self):
+    def _init_data_sources(self, skip_broken: bool=True):
+        """
+
+        :param skip_broken: In case of broken data sources skip loading and log warning instead of rising Error.
+        :return:
+        """
         if self._data_sources:
             return
         os.makedirs(self._store_dir, exist_ok=True)
@@ -795,9 +804,15 @@ def _init_data_sources(self):
                       if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(self._store_dir, f)) and f.endswith('.json')]
         self._data_sources = []
         for json_file in json_files:
-            data_source = self._load_data_source(os.path.join(self._store_dir, json_file))
-            if data_source:
-                self._data_sources.append(data_source)
+            try:
+                data_source = self._load_data_source(os.path.join(self._store_dir, json_file))
+                if data_source:
+                    self._data_sources.append(data_source)
+            except DataSourceInitializationError as e:
+                if skip_broken:
+                    warnings.warn(e.cause, DataSourceInitializationWarning, stacklevel=0)
+                else:
+                    raise e
 
     def save_data_source(self, data_source, unlock: bool = False):
         self._save_data_source(data_source)
@@ -822,9 +837,13 @@ def _load_data_source(self, json_path):
     @staticmethod
     def _load_json_file(json_path: str):
         if os.path.isfile(json_path):
-            with open(json_path) as fp:
-                return json.load(fp=fp) or {}
-        return None
+            try:
+                with open(json_path) as fp:
+                    return json.load(fp=fp) or {}
+            except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
+                raise DataSourceInitializationError("Cannot load data source config, {}".format(json_path))
+        else:
+            raise DataSourceInitializationError("Data source config does not exists, {}".format(json_path))
 
     @staticmethod
     def _json_default_serializer(obj):