diff --git a/lib/growing_file.js b/lib/growing_file.js
index a25d618c340fa1ceb5bd717af650e854267a463d..baa80798e3e544dbccb857b6acba53c39864c1e8 100644
--- a/lib/growing_file.js
+++ b/lib/growing_file.js
@@ -69,11 +69,16 @@ GrowingFile.prototype._readUntilEof = function() {
 
   this._reading = true;
 
-  this._stream = fs.createReadStream(this._path, {
-    start: this._offset,
-    // @todo: Remove if this gets merged: https://github.com/joyent/node/pull/881
-    end: Infinity
-  });
+  try {
+    this._stream = fs.createReadStream(this._path, {
+      start: this._offset,
+      // @todo: Remove if this gets merged: https://github.com/joyent/node/pull/881
+      end: Infinity
+    });
+    this.readable = true;
+  } catch (error) {
+    this._handleError(error);
+  }
 
   this._stream.on('error', this._handleError.bind(this));
   this._stream.on('data', this._handleData.bind(this));