diff --git a/wrapper.py b/wrapper.py
index c9024b4fd210b238e40008e6eaaca4a1b259cfa7..2be01045fa2373c4ef84f03395b90522f8f6e0f8 100755
--- a/wrapper.py
+++ b/wrapper.py
@@ -795,8 +795,15 @@ class Targets:
 
 
 def main():
-    # Command line arguments
     args = get_args()
+
+    # Ensure network settings are properly configured before allowing a start
+    if not check_networking():
+        log.error("Unacceptable network settings, refusing to start. "
+                  "Run the suggested commands and restart the wrapper service.")
+        raise Exception
+
+    # Command line arguments
     log.info("Running with configuration: {}".format(args))
 
     binary_path = args["binary_path"]
@@ -827,11 +834,6 @@ def main():
     disable_consensus = args["disable_consensus"]
     disable_cloudwatch = args["disable_cloudwatch"]
 
-    # Ensure network settings are properly configured before allowing a start
-    if not check_networking():
-        raise Exception("Unacceptable network settings, refusing to start. "
-                        "Run the suggested commands and restart the wrapper service.")
-
     # The valid "install" paths we can write to, with their local paths for
     # this machine
     valid_paths = {