diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index 7f64326..1cd636c 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -570,28 +570,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			set_boot_loader(b, bootloader);
 	}
 	else {
-		FILE *fh = fopen(deserialize.c_str(), "r");
-		if (!fh)
+		auto rc = deserialize_file(deserialize);
+		if (rc.has_value() == false)
 			error_exit(true, "Failed to open %s", deserialize.c_str());
 
-		std::string j_in;
-		char        buffer[4096];
-		for(;;) {
-			char *rc = fgets(buffer, sizeof buffer, fh);
-			if (!rc)
-				break;
-
-			j_in += buffer;
-		}
-
-		fclose(fh);
-
-		JsonDocument         j;
-		DeserializationError error = deserializeJson(j, j_in);
-		if (error)
-			error_exit(true, "State file %s is corrupt: %s", deserialize.c_str(), error.c_str());
-
-		b = bus::deserialize(j, cnsl, &event);
+		b = bus::deserialize(rc.value(), cnsl, &event);
 
 		myusleep(251000);
 	}
diff --git a/utils.cpp b/utils.cpp
index 9d21de7..11f7b0e 100644
--- a/utils.cpp
+++ b/utils.cpp
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #endif
 
+#include <ArduinoJson.h>
 #include <errno.h>
+#include <optional>
 #include <pthread.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
@@ -269,3 +271,33 @@ std::string get_endpoint_name(const int fd)
 
 	return std::string(inet_ntoa(addr.sin_addr)) + "." + format("%d", ntohs(addr.sin_port));
 }
+
+std::optional<JsonDocument> deserialize_file(const std::string & filename)
+{
+	FILE *fh = fopen(filename.c_str(), "r");
+	if (!fh) {
+		DOLOG(warning, false, "Failed to open %s", filename.c_str());
+		return { };
+	}
+
+	std::string j_in;
+	char        buffer[4096];
+	for(;;) {
+		char *rc = fgets(buffer, sizeof buffer, fh);
+		if (!rc)
+			break;
+
+		j_in += buffer;
+	}
+
+	fclose(fh);
+
+	JsonDocument         j;
+	DeserializationError error = deserializeJson(j, j_in);
+	if (error) {
+		DOLOG(warning, false, "Failed to de-serialize %s", filename.c_str());
+		return { };
+	}
+
+	return j;
+}
diff --git a/utils.h b/utils.h
index 8fd97a0..95f9e5c 100644
--- a/utils.h
+++ b/utils.h
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // (C) 2018-2024 by Folkert van Heusden
 // Released under MIT license
 
+#include <ArduinoJson.h>
+#include <optional>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
@@ -28,3 +30,5 @@ void update_word(uint16_t *const w, const bool msb, const uint8_t v);
 
 void set_nodelay(const int fd);
 std::string get_endpoint_name(const int fd);
+
+std::optional<JsonDocument> deserialize_file(const std::string & filename);