diff --git a/etherlink/bin_node/lib_dev/evm_context.ml b/etherlink/bin_node/lib_dev/evm_context.ml
index 00d271d47bb0c36c2b379eb4deafe7d6fcab6ec0..aff869d81891071c4d4cc91ce8c939b303f36085 100644
--- a/etherlink/bin_node/lib_dev/evm_context.ml
+++ b/etherlink/bin_node/lib_dev/evm_context.ml
@@ -174,9 +174,11 @@ let init ?(genesis_timestamp = Helpers.now ()) ?produce_genesis_with
               apply_blueprint ctxt genesis
           | None -> return ctxt)
     | None ->
-        failwith
-          "Cannot compute the initial EVM state without the path to the \
-           initial kernel"
+        if loaded then return ctxt
+        else
+          failwith
+            "Cannot compute the initial EVM state without the path to the \
+             initial kernel"
   in
 
   return ctxt