diff --git a/backend/src/index.js b/backend/src/index.js
index bc17d12c..743761ac 100644
--- a/backend/src/index.js
+++ b/backend/src/index.js
@@ -37,8 +37,22 @@ const ESV_DATA_DIR = path.join(__dirname, '../../bible-data'); // ESV from mdbib
 const NKJV_DATA_DIR = path.join(__dirname, '../../NKJV'); // NKJV local files
 
 // Initialize search engines for each version
-const esvSearchEngine = ESV_DATA_DIR ? new BibleSearchEngine(ESV_DATA_DIR) : null;
-const nkjvSearchEngine = new BibleSearchEngine(NKJV_DATA_DIR);
+let esvSearchEngine = null;
+let nkjvSearchEngine = null;
+
+try {
+  if (ESV_DATA_DIR) {
+    esvSearchEngine = new BibleSearchEngine(ESV_DATA_DIR);
+  }
+} catch (error) {
+  console.log('ESV search engine failed to initialize (data directory may not exist):', error.message);
+}
+
+try {
+  nkjvSearchEngine = new BibleSearchEngine(NKJV_DATA_DIR);
+} catch (error) {
+  console.log('NKJV search engine failed to initialize:', error.message);
+}
 
 // Helper function to get data directory for version
 function getDataDir(version) {