diff --git a/storagenode/monitor/monitor.go b/storagenode/monitor/monitor.go
index f6b58c76a..989750b7e 100644
--- a/storagenode/monitor/monitor.go
+++ b/storagenode/monitor/monitor.go
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	VerifyDirWritableInterval time.Duration `help:"how frequently to verify writability of storage directory" releaseDefault:"5m" devDefault:"30s"`
 	VerifyDirReadableTimeout  time.Duration `help:"how long to wait for a storage directory readability verification to complete" releaseDefault:"1m" devDefault:"10s"`
 	VerifyDirWritableTimeout  time.Duration `help:"how long to wait for a storage directory writability verification to complete" releaseDefault:"1m" devDefault:"10s"`
+	VerifyDirWarnOnly         bool          `help:"if the storage directory verification check fails, log a warning instead of killing the node" default:"false"`
 	MinimumDiskSpace          memory.Size   `help:"how much disk space a node at minimum has to advertise" default:"500GB"`
 	MinimumBandwidth          memory.Size   `help:"how much bandwidth a node at minimum has to advertise (deprecated)" default:"0TB"`
 	NotifyLowDiskCooldown     time.Duration `help:"minimum length of time between capacity reports" default:"10m" hidden:"true"`
@@ -134,8 +135,16 @@ func (service *Service) Run(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 			err := service.store.VerifyStorageDirWithTimeout(ctx, service.contact.Local().ID, timeout)
 			if err != nil {
 				if errs.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
+					if service.Config.VerifyDirWarnOnly {
+						service.log.Error("timed out while verifying readability of storage directory", zap.Duration("timeout", timeout))
+						return nil
+					}
 					return Error.New("timed out after %v while verifying readability of storage directory", timeout)
 				}
+				if service.Config.VerifyDirWarnOnly {
+					service.log.Error("error verifying location and/or readability of storage directory", zap.Error(err))
+					return nil
+				}
 				return Error.New("error verifying location and/or readability of storage directory: %v", err)
 			}
 			return nil
@@ -147,8 +156,16 @@ func (service *Service) Run(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 			err := service.store.CheckWritabilityWithTimeout(ctx, timeout)
 			if err != nil {
 				if errs.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
+					if service.Config.VerifyDirWarnOnly {
+						service.log.Error("timed out while verifying writability of storage directory", zap.Duration("timeout", timeout))
+						return nil
+					}
 					return Error.New("timed out after %v while verifying writability of storage directory", timeout)
 				}
+				if service.Config.VerifyDirWarnOnly {
+					service.log.Error("error verifying writability of storage directory", zap.Error(err))
+					return nil
+				}
 				return Error.New("error verifying writability of storage directory: %v", err)
 			}
 			return nil