diff --git a/webif/lib/settings.class b/webif/lib/settings.class
index 5b561850..fa74b117 100644
--- a/webif/lib/settings.class
+++ b/webif/lib/settings.class
@@ -62,8 +62,14 @@ proc {settings _safer_query} { queryText args } {
 		try {
 			return [$settingsdb query $queryText {*}$arg]
 		} on error {msg opts} {
-			if {[string first "database is locked" $msg] >= 0 && [incr lockCnt -1] > 0} {
-				continue
+			if {[string first "database is locked" $msg] >= 0} {
+				if {[incr lockCnt -1] > 0} {
+					continue
+				} else {
+					# raise error from caller
+					set msg "Persistently unable to access Settings: database locked"
+					incr opts(-level)
+				}
 			}
 			return {*}$opts $msg
 		}