diff --git a/lib/galaxy/datatypes/converters/maf_to_interval_converter.py b/lib/galaxy/datatypes/converters/maf_to_interval_converter.py
index a07e677bcdf..dd507b11185 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/datatypes/converters/maf_to_interval_converter.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/datatypes/converters/maf_to_interval_converter.py
@@ -13,11 +13,14 @@ def __main__():
     count = 0
     #write interval header line
     out.write( "#chrom\tstart\tend\tstrand\n" )
-    for maf in bx.align.maf.Reader( open(input_name, 'r') ):
-        c = maf.get_component_by_src_start(species)
-        if c is not None:
-            out.write( "%s\t%i\t%i\t%s\n" % (bx.align.src_split(c.src)[-1], c.get_forward_strand_start(), c.get_forward_strand_end(), c.strand) )
-            count += 1
+    try:
+        for maf in bx.align.maf.Reader( open(input_name, 'r') ):
+            c = maf.get_component_by_src_start(species)
+            if c is not None:
+                out.write( "%s\t%i\t%i\t%s\n" % (bx.align.src_split(c.src)[-1], c.get_forward_strand_start(), c.get_forward_strand_end(), c.strand) )
+                count += 1
+    except Exception, e:
+        print >> sys.stderr, "There was a problem processing your input: %s" % e
     out.close()
     print "%i MAF blocks converted to Genomic Intervals for species %s." % (count, species)