diff --git a/client/state/state_database.go b/client/state/state_database.go
index bb42a59ae0a4..d6784e98ee53 100644
--- a/client/state/state_database.go
+++ b/client/state/state_database.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/boltdb/bolt"
+
 	hclog "github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog"
 	trstate "github.com/hashicorp/nomad/client/allocrunner/taskrunner/state"
 	dmstate "github.com/hashicorp/nomad/client/devicemanager/state"
@@ -120,9 +122,14 @@ func NewBoltStateDB(logger hclog.Logger, stateDir string) (StateDB, error) {
 	}
 	firstRun := fi == nil
 
+	// Timeout to force failure when accessing a data dir that is already in use
+	timeout := &bolt.Options{Timeout: 5 * time.Second}
+
 	// Create or open the boltdb state database
-	db, err := boltdd.Open(fn, 0600, nil)
-	if err != nil {
+	db, err := boltdd.Open(fn, 0600, timeout)
+	if err == bolt.ErrTimeout {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("timed out while opening database, is another Nomad process accessing data_dir %s?", stateDir)
+	} else if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create state database: %v", err)
 	}