diff --git a/src/crawler.cls.php b/src/crawler.cls.php
index c49cf7e22..bab2d2759 100644
--- a/src/crawler.cls.php
+++ b/src/crawler.cls.php
@@ -608,8 +608,11 @@ private function _touch_lane()
 	 */
 	public function Release_lane()
 	{
+		$lane_file = $this->json_local_path() . '.pid';
+		if (!file_exists($lane_file)) return;
+
 		self::debug("Release lane");
-		unlink($this->json_local_path() . '.pid');
+		unlink($lane_file);
 	}
 
 	/**