diff --git a/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/ApplicationImpl.java b/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/ApplicationImpl.java
index b631836c8..1838bb3ff 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/ApplicationImpl.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/application/ApplicationImpl.java
@@ -171,14 +171,17 @@ public class ApplicationImpl implements Application {
 			ss.info(this, "Started the ContentTripleSource: "
 					+ contentTripleSource);
 
-			ConfigurationTripleSource configurationTripleSource = app
-					.getConfigurationTripleSource();
-			configurationTripleSource.startup(app, css);
-			ss.info(this, "Started the ConfigurationTripleSource: "
-					+ configurationTripleSource);
+			// Ensure that we haven't failed setting up the content triple store before continuing
+			if (!ss.isStartupAborted()) {
+				ConfigurationTripleSource configurationTripleSource = app
+						.getConfigurationTripleSource();
+				configurationTripleSource.startup(app, css);
+				ss.info(this, "Started the ConfigurationTripleSource: "
+						+ configurationTripleSource);
 
-			configureJena();
-			prepareCombinedTripleSource(app, ctx);
+				configureJena();
+				prepareCombinedTripleSource(app, ctx);
+			}
 		}
 
 		private void configureJena() {
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/triplesource/impl/sdb/SDBConnectionSmokeTests.java b/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/triplesource/impl/sdb/SDBConnectionSmokeTests.java
index 3246d2c07..5cdd73130 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/triplesource/impl/sdb/SDBConnectionSmokeTests.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/triplesource/impl/sdb/SDBConnectionSmokeTests.java
@@ -94,7 +94,22 @@ public class SDBConnectionSmokeTests {
 
 		try (Connection conn = DriverManager
 				.getConnection(url, connectionProps)) {
-			// Just open the connection and close it.
+			// We have an SQL connection - see if we have any XSD Strings in the database
+			String skip = props.getProperty("skip.Jena3StringTest", "false");
+			if (!Boolean.parseBoolean(skip)) {
+				try {
+					Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
+					ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT COUNT(1) AS total FROM Nodes WHERE datatype='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string'");
+					if (rs != null && rs.next()) {
+						long total = rs.getLong("total");
+						if (total > 0) {
+							ss.fatal("XSD Strings exist in Nodes table. Requires upgrade for Jena 3");
+						}
+					}
+				} catch (SQLException e) {
+					// Ignore SQL Exception here, as it likely represents a triple store that's not initialised yet.
+				}
+			}
 		} catch (SQLException e) {
 			ss.fatal("Can't connect to the database: " + PROPERTY_DB_URL + "='"
 					+ url + "', " + PROPERTY_DB_USERNAME + "='" + username