diff --git a/src/server/simpleslave.c b/src/server/simpleslave.c
--- a/src/server/simpleslave.c
+++ b/src/server/simpleslave.c
@@ -154,11 +154,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
         prepareJobPaths(jobnum, framenum, outputExt, datadir, &urltoTar, &pathtoTar, &pathtoJobfile, &urltoOutput, &pathtoOutput);
         // free(outputExt);
-
-        if(downloadTar(urltoTar, pathtoTar))
-          return 1;
+        int dlret = downloadTar(urltoTar, pathtoTar);
+        if(dlret == 0)
+          fprintf(stderr,"Got data tarball\n");
+        else if(dlret == 3)
+          return 0; // ouput dir doesn't exist
         else
-          fprintf(stderr,"Got data tarball\n");
+          fprintf(stderr,"Using existing tarball...\n");
 
         unpackJob(datadir, pathtoTar);