diff --git a/src/fs.ts b/src/fs.ts
index dd5d6d24..1c807a4d 100644
--- a/src/fs.ts
+++ b/src/fs.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import fs from 'fs';
 import util from 'util';
 
 export default {
+  existsSync: fs.existsSync,
   readFile: util.promisify(fs.readFile),
   readFileSync: fs.readFileSync,
   watch: fs.watch,
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index d7f59ddf..1b7c229d 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ export const open = async <T>(
     };
 
     fs.watch(filepath, watcherOptions, async () => {
+      // When database file is being replaced,
+      // it could be removed for a fraction of a second.
+      if (!fs.existsSync(filepath)) {
+        return;
+      }
       const updateDatabase = await fs.readFile(filepath);
       reader.load(updateDatabase, opts);
       if (opts.watchForUpdatesHook) {