diff --git a/hbd b/hbd
index 3d19ddc..1bc1396 100755
--- a/hbd
+++ b/hbd
@@ -362,7 +362,10 @@ def readsock(sock):
 	data, addrp = sock.recvfrom(MAXRECV)
 	now = time.time()
 	if DEBUG > 2: sys.stderr.write("readsock = %s, %s\n" % (data,addrp))
-	msg = stodict(data)
+	try:
+		msg = stodict(data)
+	except:
+		return
 	if not msg:		# Old hbc client
 		if verbose: print "old hbc:", data
 		oldclient = True