diff --git a/server.go b/server.go
index 6c79477236..5c3049110b 100644
--- a/server.go
+++ b/server.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
+	"os"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
@@ -169,6 +170,10 @@ func splitDirMapping(m string) (string, string) {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("invalid directory mapping: want \"remote@local\", got %s", m))
 	}
 
+    if _, err := os.Stat(xs[1]); os.IsNotExist(err){
+        panic(fmt.Sprintf("directory does not exist: %s", xs[1]))
+    }
+
 	// Windows prepends the drive letter to the path with a leading slash, e.g. "/foo/" => "C:/foo/".
 	if xs[0][1] == ':' {
 		xs[0] = xs[0][2:]