diff --git a/synapse/storage/appservice.py b/synapse/storage/appservice.py
index eab58d9ce9..25a6f14f40 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/appservice.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/appservice.py
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ class ApplicationServiceStore(SQLBaseStore):
             except Exception as e:
                 logger.error("Failed to load appservice from '%s'", config_file)
                 logger.exception(e)
+                raise
 
 
 class ApplicationServiceTransactionStore(SQLBaseStore):