diff --git a/src/taggingbackends/explorer.py b/src/taggingbackends/explorer.py
index 7c30b065a563f825e2cb07a4fdd4b3d958787dc8..955d71b38388a0d106c490da59cc96269810057c 100644
--- a/src/taggingbackends/explorer.py
+++ b/src/taggingbackends/explorer.py
@@ -14,11 +14,14 @@ JULIA_PROJECT = os.environ.get('JULIA_PROJECT', '')
 
 try:
     from julia import Julia
-    Julia(compiled_modules=False)
 except:
     logging.warning(f"PyCall not found in JULIA_PROJECT={JULIA_PROJECT}; \
 please see https://gitlab.pasteur.fr/nyx/TaggingBackends#recommended-installation")
 else:
+    try:
+        Julia(compiled_modules=False)
+    except:
+        logging.warning("Failed to set PyCall with compiled_modules=False")
     try:
         from julia import TaggingBackends
     except ImportError: