diff --git a/src/http/network_thread.zig b/src/http/network_thread.zig
index d3826dcb36..4c47f1ffef 100644
--- a/src/http/network_thread.zig
+++ b/src/http/network_thread.zig
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ pub const Batch = ThreadPool.Batch;
 pub const Task = ThreadPool.Task;
 const std = @import("std");
 const AsyncIO = @import("io");
+const Output = @import("../global.zig").Output;
 
 const NetworkThread = @This();
 
@@ -70,8 +71,19 @@ pub fn getAddressList(allocator: *std.mem.Allocator, name: []const u8, port: u16
 
 pub fn init() !void {
     if ((global_loaded.swap(1, .Monotonic)) == 1) return;
+    AsyncIO.global = AsyncIO.init(512, 0) catch |err| {
+        Output.prettyErrorln("<r><red>error<r>: Failed to initialize network thread: <red><b>{s}<r>.\nHTTP requests will not work. Please file an issue and run strace().", .{@errorName(err)});
+        Output.flush();
+
+        global = NetworkThread{
+            .pool = ThreadPool.init(.{ .max_threads = 0, .stack_size = 64 * 1024 * 1024 }),
+        };
+        global.pool.max_threads = 0;
+        AsyncIO.global_loaded = true;
+        return;
+    };
+
     AsyncIO.global_loaded = true;
-    AsyncIO.global = try AsyncIO.init(1024, 0);
 
     global = NetworkThread{
         .pool = ThreadPool.init(.{ .max_threads = 1, .stack_size = 64 * 1024 * 1024 }),
diff --git a/src/io/io_linux.zig b/src/io/io_linux.zig
index f69f70c5b8..b22dc92a51 100644
--- a/src/io/io_linux.zig
+++ b/src/io/io_linux.zig
@@ -62,8 +62,24 @@ unqueued: FIFO(Completion) = .{},
 /// Completions that are ready to have their callbacks run.
 completed: FIFO(Completion) = .{},
 
-pub fn init(entries: u12, flags: u32) !IO {
-    return IO{ .ring = try IO_Uring.init(entries, flags) };
+pub fn init(entries_: u12, flags: u32) !IO {
+    var ring: IO_Uring = undefined;
+    var entries = entries_;
+    while (true) {
+        ring = IO_Uring.init(entries, flags) catch |err| {
+            if (err == error.SystemResources) {
+                if (entries < 4) return error.SystemResources;
+                entries /= 2;
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            return err;
+        };
+        break;
+    }
+    
+
+    return IO{ .ring = ring };
 }
 
 pub fn deinit(self: *IO) void {