diff --git a/storage/auth/previousNegotiations.go b/storage/auth/previousNegotiations.go
index b8394f553e1137840ed139a1622bc786de225074..d15bab6bd33a75985ae4b021427f58e59a3ff353 100644
--- a/storage/auth/previousNegotiations.go
+++ b/storage/auth/previousNegotiations.go
@@ -163,7 +163,8 @@ func (s *Store) savePreviousNegotiations() error {
 func (s *Store) newOrLoadPreviousNegotiations() (map[id.ID]struct{}, error) {
 	obj, err := s.kv.Get(negotiationPartnersKey, negotiationPartnersVersion)
 	if err != nil {
-		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "object not found") {
+		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "object not found") ||
+			strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no such file or directory") {
 			return make(map[id.ID]struct{}), nil
 		}
 		return nil, err