diff --git a/Content.Tests/DMProject/Tests/Savefile/BasicReadAndWrite.dm b/Content.Tests/DMProject/Tests/Savefile/BasicReadAndWrite.dm
index 7aff9c89bb..58042c79af 100644
--- a/Content.Tests/DMProject/Tests/Savefile/BasicReadAndWrite.dm
+++ b/Content.Tests/DMProject/Tests/Savefile/BasicReadAndWrite.dm
@@ -69,3 +69,12 @@
 	ASSERT(S["CBA"] == null)
 
 	fdel("savefile.sav")
+
+	file("badsavefile.sav") << "hey wait, this isn't json! oh well, better fail miserably and die"
+	
+	var/savefile/fail
+	try
+		fail = new("badsavefile.sav")
+	catch(var/exception/e)
+		ASSERT(isnull(fail))
+	ASSERT(fail == null)
diff --git a/OpenDreamRuntime/Objects/Types/DreamObjectSavefile.cs b/OpenDreamRuntime/Objects/Types/DreamObjectSavefile.cs
index 5a538742d0..3e95dbaaf5 100644
--- a/OpenDreamRuntime/Objects/Types/DreamObjectSavefile.cs
+++ b/OpenDreamRuntime/Objects/Types/DreamObjectSavefile.cs
@@ -106,7 +106,13 @@ public override void Initialize(DreamProcArguments args) {
             var data = Resource.ReadAsString();
 
             if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(data)) {
-                CurrentDir = _rootNode = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<SFDreamJsonValue>(data)!;
+                try{
+                    CurrentDir = _rootNode = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<SFDreamJsonValue>(data)!;
+                } catch (JsonException e) { //only catch JSON exceptions, other exceptions probably mean something else happened
+                     //fail safe, make this null if something goes super fucky. Prevents accidentally overwrite of non-savefile files.
+                    Resource = null;
+                    throw new InvalidDataException($"Error parsing savefile {filename}: Is the savefile corrupted or using a BYOND version? BYOND savefiles are not compatible with OpenDream. Details: {e}");
+                }
                 SavefileDirectories.Add(filename, _rootNode);
             } else {
                 //_rootNode is created in constructor