diff --git a/pottwal.yml b/pottwal.yml
index 9108a29..b74d14b 100644
--- a/pottwal.yml
+++ b/pottwal.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     shlink_host_port: 8083
     shlink_domain_name: sl.n39.eu
 
-    prosody_data: "{{ data_dir }}/prosody"
+    prosody_data_dir: "{{ data_dir }}/prosody"
     prosody_domain_name: jabber.n39.eu
     jabber_host_port: 8086
 
@@ -127,6 +127,15 @@
         site_name: "{{ shlink_domain_name }}"
         proxy_port: "{{ shlink_host_port }}"
 
+    - name: Check if prosody data dir exists
+      ansible.builtin.stat:
+        path: "{{ prosody_data_dir }}"
+      register: prosody_dir
+    - name: Fail if prosody data dir does not exist
+      ansible.builtin.fail:
+        msg: "prosody data dir is missing, please restore from the backup!"
+      when: not prosody.stat.exists
+
     - name: Ensure container for prosody XMPP server is running
       docker_container:
         name: prosody
@@ -140,9 +149,9 @@
           - 5222:5222   # xmpp-client
           - 5269:5269   # xmpp-server
         volumes:
-          - "{{ prosody_data }}/etc/prosody:/etc/prosody:rw"
-          - "{{ prosody_data }}/var/lib/prosody:/var/lib/prosody:rw"
-          - "{{ prosody_data }}/var/log/prosody:/var/log/prosody:rw"
+          - "{{ prosody_data_dir }}/etc/prosody:/etc/prosody:rw"
+          - "{{ prosody_data_dir }}/var/lib/prosody:/var/lib/prosody:rw"
+          - "{{ prosody_data_dir }}/var/log/prosody:/var/log/prosody:rw"
           - "{{ dehydrated_certs_dir }}/{{ prosody_domain_name }}:/var/lib/dehydrated/certs/{{ prosody_domain_name }}:ro"
 
     - name: Ensure container for static XMPP website is running
@@ -160,7 +169,7 @@
         ports:
           - "127.0.0.1:{{ jabber_host_port }}:80"
         volumes:
-          - "{{ prosody_data }}/var/www:/public:ro"
+          - "{{ prosody_data_dir }}/var/www:/public:ro"
 
     - name: Setup proxy site {{ prosody_domain_name }}
       # point to static website for now