diff --git a/lib/src/repo.rs b/lib/src/repo.rs
index ac2f63d95..a6836b59a 100644
--- a/lib/src/repo.rs
+++ b/lib/src/repo.rs
@@ -81,6 +81,12 @@ impl Debug for ReadonlyRepo {
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Error, Debug, PartialEq)]
+pub enum RepoLoadError {
+    #[error("There is no Jujube repo in {0}")]
+    NoRepoHere(PathBuf),
+}
+
 impl ReadonlyRepo {
     pub fn init_local(settings: &UserSettings, wc_path: PathBuf) -> Arc<ReadonlyRepo> {
         let repo_path = wc_path.join(".jj");
@@ -185,8 +191,15 @@ impl ReadonlyRepo {
         repo
     }
 
-    pub fn load(user_settings: &UserSettings, wc_path: PathBuf) -> Arc<ReadonlyRepo> {
+    pub fn load(
+        user_settings: &UserSettings,
+        wc_path: PathBuf,
+    ) -> Result<Arc<ReadonlyRepo>, RepoLoadError> {
         let repo_path = wc_path.join(".jj");
+        // TODO: Check if ancestor directory has a .jj/
+        if !repo_path.is_dir() {
+            return Err(RepoLoadError::NoRepoHere(wc_path));
+        }
         let store_path = repo_path.join("store");
         let store: Box<dyn Store>;
         if store_path.is_dir() {
@@ -225,7 +238,7 @@ impl ReadonlyRepo {
         let static_lifetime_repo: &'static ReadonlyRepo = unsafe { std::mem::transmute(repo_ref) };
         let evolution = ReadonlyEvolution::new(static_lifetime_repo);
         ReadonlyRepo::init_cycles(&mut repo, evolution);
-        repo
+        Ok(repo)
     }
 
     fn init_cycles(mut repo: &mut Arc<ReadonlyRepo>, evolution: ReadonlyEvolution<'static>) {
diff --git a/lib/tests/test_bad_locking.rs b/lib/tests/test_bad_locking.rs
index 2a1c9e4dd..0edefc257 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test_bad_locking.rs
+++ b/lib/tests/test_bad_locking.rs
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ fn test_bad_locking_children(use_git: bool) {
     // Simulate a write of a commit that happens on one machine
     let machine1_path = TempDir::new().unwrap().into_path();
     copy_directory(repo.working_copy_path(), &machine1_path);
-    let machine1_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, machine1_path);
+    let machine1_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, machine1_path).unwrap();
     let child1 = testutils::create_random_commit(&settings, &machine1_repo)
         .set_parents(vec![initial.id().clone()])
         .write_to_new_transaction(&machine1_repo, "test");
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ fn test_bad_locking_children(use_git: bool) {
     // Simulate a write of a commit that happens on another machine
     let machine2_path = TempDir::new().unwrap().into_path();
     copy_directory(repo.working_copy_path(), &machine2_path);
-    let machine2_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, machine2_path);
+    let machine2_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, machine2_path).unwrap();
     let child2 = testutils::create_random_commit(&settings, &machine2_repo)
         .set_parents(vec![initial.id().clone()])
         .write_to_new_transaction(&machine2_repo, "test");
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ fn test_bad_locking_children(use_git: bool) {
         machine2_repo.working_copy_path(),
         &merged_path,
     );
-    let merged_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, merged_path);
+    let merged_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, merged_path).unwrap();
     let heads: HashSet<_> = merged_repo.view().heads().cloned().collect();
     assert!(heads.contains(child1.id()));
     assert!(heads.contains(child2.id()));
@@ -170,10 +170,10 @@ fn test_bad_locking_interrupted(use_git: bool) {
 
     copy_directory(&backup_path, &op_heads_dir);
     // Reload the repo and check that only the new head is present.
-    let reloaded_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone());
+    let reloaded_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone()).unwrap();
     assert_eq!(reloaded_repo.view().base_op_head_id(), &op_head_id);
     // Reload once more to make sure that the view/op_heads/ directory was updated
     // correctly.
-    let reloaded_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone());
+    let reloaded_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone()).unwrap();
     assert_eq!(reloaded_repo.view().base_op_head_id(), &op_head_id);
 }
diff --git a/lib/tests/test_commit_concurrent.rs b/lib/tests/test_commit_concurrent.rs
index 39554c54b..2b2a90b37 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test_commit_concurrent.rs
+++ b/lib/tests/test_commit_concurrent.rs
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ fn test_commit_parallel_instances(use_git: bool) {
     let mut threads = vec![];
     for _ in 0..100 {
         let settings = settings.clone();
-        let repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone());
+        let repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone()).unwrap();
         let handle = thread::spawn(move || {
             testutils::create_random_commit(&settings, &repo)
                 .write_to_new_transaction(&repo, "test");
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ fn test_commit_parallel_instances(use_git: bool) {
     }
     // One commit per thread plus the commit from the initial checkout on top of the
     // root commit
-    let repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone());
+    let repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone()).unwrap();
     assert_eq!(repo.view().heads().count(), 101);
 
     // One operation for initializing the repo (containing the root id and the
diff --git a/lib/tests/test_git.rs b/lib/tests/test_git.rs
index d84b5daa4..51625be31 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test_git.rs
+++ b/lib/tests/test_git.rs
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ fn test_fetch_success() {
     let new_git_commit = empty_git_commit(&git_repo, "refs/heads/main", &[&initial_git_commit]);
 
     // The new commit is not visible before git::fetch().
-    let jj_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, jj_repo_dir.clone());
+    let jj_repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, jj_repo_dir.clone()).unwrap();
     let heads: HashSet<_> = jj_repo.view().heads().cloned().collect();
     assert!(!heads.contains(&commit_id(&new_git_commit)));
 
diff --git a/lib/tests/test_index.rs b/lib/tests/test_index.rs
index 97f34e125..2a7eea411 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test_index.rs
+++ b/lib/tests/test_index.rs
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ fn test_index_commits_previous_operations(use_git: bool) {
     std::fs::remove_dir_all(&index_operations_dir).unwrap();
     std::fs::create_dir(&index_operations_dir).unwrap();
 
-    let repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone());
+    let repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone()).unwrap();
     let index = repo.index();
     let index = index.as_composite();
     // There should be the root commit and the working copy commit, plus
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ fn test_index_commits_incremental(use_git: bool) {
     let commit_c = child_commit(&settings, &repo, &commit_b).write_to_transaction(&mut tx);
     tx.commit();
 
-    let repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone());
+    let repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone()).unwrap();
     let index = repo.index();
     let index = index.as_composite();
     // There should be the root commit and the working copy commit, plus
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ fn test_index_commits_incremental_empty_transaction(use_git: bool) {
 
     repo.start_transaction("test").commit();
 
-    let repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone());
+    let repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo.working_copy_path().clone()).unwrap();
     let index = repo.index();
     let index = index.as_composite();
     // There should be the root commit and the working copy commit, plus
diff --git a/lib/tests/test_load_repo.rs b/lib/tests/test_load_repo.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..db5f189f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/tests/test_load_repo.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+// Copyright 2021 Google LLC
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+use jujube_lib::repo::{ReadonlyRepo, RepoLoadError};
+use jujube_lib::testutils;
+
+#[test]
+fn test_load_bad_path() {
+    let settings = testutils::user_settings();
+    let temp_dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+    let wc_path = temp_dir.path().to_owned();
+    // We haven't created a repo in the wc_path, so it should fail to load.
+    let result = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, wc_path.clone());
+    assert_eq!(result.err(), Some(RepoLoadError::NoRepoHere(wc_path)));
+}
diff --git a/lib/tests/test_working_copy_concurrent.rs b/lib/tests/test_working_copy_concurrent.rs
index 59d768a53..d2d622400 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test_working_copy_concurrent.rs
+++ b/lib/tests/test_working_copy_concurrent.rs
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ fn test_concurrent_checkout(use_git: bool) {
     wc1.check_out(commit1).unwrap();
 
     // Check out commit2 from another process (simulated by another repo instance)
-    let repo2 = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo1.working_copy_path().clone());
+    let repo2 = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo1.working_copy_path().clone()).unwrap();
     repo2
         .working_copy_locked()
         .check_out(commit2.clone())
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ fn test_concurrent_checkout(use_git: bool) {
     );
 
     // Check that the commit2 is still checked out on disk.
-    let repo3 = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo1.working_copy_path().clone());
+    let repo3 = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo1.working_copy_path().clone()).unwrap();
     assert_eq!(
         repo3.working_copy_locked().current_tree_id(),
         commit2.tree().id().clone()
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ fn test_concurrent_commit(use_git: bool) {
     let commit1 = wc1.current_commit();
 
     // Commit from another process (simulated by another repo instance)
-    let mut repo2 = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo1.working_copy_path().clone());
+    let mut repo2 = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, repo1.working_copy_path().clone()).unwrap();
     testutils::write_working_copy_file(&repo2, &FileRepoPath::from("file2"), "contents2");
     let owned_wc2 = repo2.working_copy().clone();
     let wc2 = owned_wc2.lock().unwrap();
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ fn test_checkout_parallel(use_git: bool) {
         let settings = settings.clone();
         let working_copy_path = repo.working_copy_path().clone();
         let handle = thread::spawn(move || {
-            let mut repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, working_copy_path);
+            let mut repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(&settings, working_copy_path).unwrap();
             let owned_wc = repo.working_copy().clone();
             let wc = owned_wc.lock().unwrap();
             let commit = repo.store().get_commit(&commit_id).unwrap();
diff --git a/src/commands.rs b/src/commands.rs
index c9e11f1b3..effd05286 100644
--- a/src/commands.rs
+++ b/src/commands.rs
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ use jujube_lib::files;
 use jujube_lib::files::DiffLine;
 use jujube_lib::git;
 use jujube_lib::op_store::{OpStoreError, OperationId};
-use jujube_lib::repo::{ReadonlyRepo, Repo};
+use jujube_lib::repo::{ReadonlyRepo, Repo, RepoLoadError};
 use jujube_lib::repo_path::RepoPath;
 use jujube_lib::rewrite::{back_out_commit, merge_commit_trees, rebase_commit};
 use jujube_lib::settings::UserSettings;
@@ -82,10 +82,16 @@ impl From<git2::Error> for CommandError {
     }
 }
 
+impl From<RepoLoadError> for CommandError {
+    fn from(err: RepoLoadError) -> Self {
+        CommandError::UserError(format!("Failed to load repo: {}", err))
+    }
+}
+
 fn get_repo(ui: &Ui, matches: &ArgMatches) -> Result<Arc<ReadonlyRepo>, CommandError> {
     let repo_path_str = matches.value_of("repository").unwrap();
     let repo_path = ui.cwd().join(repo_path_str);
-    let mut repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(ui.settings(), repo_path);
+    let mut repo = ReadonlyRepo::load(ui.settings(), repo_path)?;
     if let Some(op_str) = matches.value_of("at_op") {
         let op = resolve_single_op(&repo, op_str)?;
         Arc::get_mut(&mut repo).unwrap().reload_at(&op);