diff --git a/scrapy/spiderqueue.py b/scrapy/spiderqueue.py
index 03b84fe91..409a85181 100644
--- a/scrapy/spiderqueue.py
+++ b/scrapy/spiderqueue.py
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
+import sqlite3
+
 from zope.interface import implements
 
+from scrapy import log
 from scrapy.interfaces import ISpiderQueue
 from scrapy.utils.sqlite import JsonSqlitePriorityQueue
 
@@ -9,7 +12,12 @@ class SqliteSpiderQueue(object):
     implements(ISpiderQueue)
 
     def __init__(self, database=None, table='spider_queue'):
-        self.q = JsonSqlitePriorityQueue(database, table)
+        try:
+            self.q = JsonSqlitePriorityQueue(database, table)
+        except sqlite3.Error, e:
+            self.q = JsonSqlitePriorityQueue(':memory:', table)
+            log.msg("Cannot open SQLite %r - using in-memory spider queue " \
+                "instead. Error was: %r" % (database, str(e)), log.WARNING)
 
     @classmethod
     def from_settings(cls, settings):