diff --git a/org.jacoco.agent.rt.test/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/AgentTest.java b/org.jacoco.agent.rt.test/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/AgentTest.java
index 8cc19a754d..eee7a736f8 100644
--- a/org.jacoco.agent.rt.test/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/AgentTest.java
+++ b/org.jacoco.agent.rt.test/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/AgentTest.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
-import java.io.IOException;
 import java.lang.management.ManagementFactory;
 
 import javax.management.InstanceNotFoundException;
@@ -106,8 +105,9 @@ public void startup_should_create_random_session_id_when_undefined()
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void startup_should_log_exception() throws Exception {
+	public void startup_should_log_and_rethrow_exception() throws Exception {
 		final Exception expected = new Exception();
+
 		Agent agent = new Agent(options, this) {
 			@Override
 			IAgentOutput createAgentOutput() {
@@ -126,9 +126,13 @@ public void writeExecutionData(boolean reset) {
 			}
 		};
 
-		agent.startup();
-
-		assertSame(expected, loggedException);
+		try {
+			agent.startup();
+			fail("Exception expected");
+		} catch (Exception actual) {
+			assertSame(expected, actual);
+			assertSame(expected, loggedException);
+		}
 	}
 
 	@Test
@@ -240,7 +244,7 @@ public void getVersion_should_return_current_version() {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void getSessionId_should_return_session_id() throws IOException {
+	public void getSessionId_should_return_session_id() throws Exception {
 		Agent agent = createAgent();
 
 		agent.startup();
@@ -249,7 +253,7 @@ public void getSessionId_should_return_session_id() throws IOException {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void setSessionId_should_modify_session_id() throws IOException {
+	public void setSessionId_should_modify_session_id() throws Exception {
 		Agent agent = createAgent();
 		agent.startup();
 
@@ -273,7 +277,7 @@ public void reset_should_reset_probes() {
 
 	@Test
 	public void getExecutionData_should_return_probes_and_session_id()
-			throws IOException {
+			throws Exception {
 		Agent agent = createAgent();
 		agent.startup();
 		agent.getData().getExecutionData(Long.valueOf(0x12345678), "Foo", 1)
@@ -291,7 +295,7 @@ public void getExecutionData_should_return_probes_and_session_id()
 
 	@Test
 	public void getExecutionData_should_reset_probes_when_enabled()
-			throws IOException {
+			throws Exception {
 		Agent agent = createAgent();
 		agent.startup();
 		final boolean[] probes = agent.getData()
@@ -306,7 +310,7 @@ public void getExecutionData_should_reset_probes_when_enabled()
 
 	@Test
 	public void getExecutionData_should_not_reset_probes_when_disabled()
-			throws IOException {
+			throws Exception {
 		Agent agent = createAgent();
 		agent.startup();
 		final boolean[] probes = agent.getData()
diff --git a/org.jacoco.agent.rt/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/Agent.java b/org.jacoco.agent.rt/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/Agent.java
index fb5cf5fbe7..6f21a8edc0 100644
--- a/org.jacoco.agent.rt/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/Agent.java
+++ b/org.jacoco.agent.rt/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/Agent.java
@@ -43,8 +43,11 @@ public class Agent implements IAgent {
 	 * @param options
 	 *            options to configure the instance
 	 * @return global instance
+	 * @throws Exception
+	 *             in case something cannot be initialized
 	 */
-	public static synchronized Agent getInstance(final AgentOptions options) {
+	public static synchronized Agent getInstance(final AgentOptions options)
+			throws Exception {
 		if (singleton == null) {
 			final Agent agent = new Agent(options, IExceptionLogger.SYSTEM_ERR);
 			agent.startup();
@@ -67,7 +70,8 @@ public void run() {
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException
 	 *             if no Agent has been started yet
 	 */
-	public static synchronized Agent getInstance() throws IllegalStateException {
+	public static synchronized Agent getInstance()
+			throws IllegalStateException {
 		if (singleton == null) {
 			throw new IllegalStateException("JaCoCo agent not started.");
 		}
@@ -110,8 +114,10 @@ public RuntimeData getData() {
 	/**
 	 * Initializes this agent.
 	 * 
+	 * @throws Exception
+	 *             in case something cannot be initialized
 	 */
-	public void startup() {
+	public void startup() throws Exception {
 		try {
 			String sessionId = options.getSessionId();
 			if (sessionId == null) {
@@ -125,6 +131,7 @@ public void startup() {
 			}
 		} catch (final Exception e) {
 			logger.logExeption(e);
+			throw e;
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/org.jacoco.agent.rt/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/Offline.java b/org.jacoco.agent.rt/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/Offline.java
index cadf606c11..ecf936e562 100644
--- a/org.jacoco.agent.rt/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/Offline.java
+++ b/org.jacoco.agent.rt/src/org/jacoco/agent/rt/internal/Offline.java
@@ -22,19 +22,27 @@
  */
 public final class Offline {
 
-	private static final RuntimeData DATA;
 	private static final String CONFIG_RESOURCE = "/jacoco-agent.properties";
 
-	static {
-		final Properties config = ConfigLoader.load(CONFIG_RESOURCE,
-				System.getProperties());
-		DATA = Agent.getInstance(new AgentOptions(config)).getData();
-	}
-
 	private Offline() {
 		// no instances
 	}
 
+	private static RuntimeData data;
+
+	private static synchronized RuntimeData getRuntimeData() {
+		if (data == null) {
+			final Properties config = ConfigLoader.load(CONFIG_RESOURCE,
+					System.getProperties());
+			try {
+				data = Agent.getInstance(new AgentOptions(config)).getData();
+			} catch (final Exception e) {
+				throw new RuntimeException("Failed to initialize JaCoCo.", e);
+			}
+		}
+		return data;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * API for offline instrumented classes.
 	 * 
@@ -48,8 +56,9 @@ private Offline() {
 	 */
 	public static boolean[] getProbes(final long classid,
 			final String classname, final int probecount) {
-		return DATA.getExecutionData(Long.valueOf(classid), classname,
-				probecount).getProbes();
+		return getRuntimeData()
+				.getExecutionData(Long.valueOf(classid), classname, probecount)
+				.getProbes();
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/org.jacoco.ant.test/src/org/jacoco/ant/InstrumentTaskTest.xml b/org.jacoco.ant.test/src/org/jacoco/ant/InstrumentTaskTest.xml
index dbe2306c9e..0da651109b 100644
--- a/org.jacoco.ant.test/src/org/jacoco/ant/InstrumentTaskTest.xml
+++ b/org.jacoco.ant.test/src/org/jacoco/ant/InstrumentTaskTest.xml
@@ -123,5 +123,24 @@
 		</java>
 		<au:assertFileExists file="${temp.dir}/test.exec" />
 	</target>
+
+	<target name="testInstrumentWithRuntimeStartupFailure">
+		<jacoco:instrument destdir="${temp.dir}">
+			<fileset dir="${org.jacoco.ant.instrumentTaskTest.classes.dir}" includes="**/*.class"/>
+		</jacoco:instrument>
+		<au:assertLogContains text="Instrumented 15 classes to ${temp.dir}"/>
+		<au:assertFileExists file="${temp.dir}/org/jacoco/ant/InstrumentTaskTest.class" />
+
+		<java classname="org.jacoco.ant.TestTarget" failonerror="false" fork="true">
+			<sysproperty key="jacoco-agent.output" value="tcpserver"/>
+			<sysproperty key="jacoco-agent.port" value="foo"/>
+			<classpath>
+				<pathelement path="${org.jacoco.ant.instrumentTaskTest.agent.file}"/>
+				<pathelement path="${temp.dir}"/>
+			</classpath>
+		</java>
+		<au:assertLogContains text="java.lang.RuntimeException: Failed to initialize JaCoCo."/>
+		<au:assertLogContains text="java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string: &quot;foo&quot;"/>
+	</target>
 	
 </project>
diff --git a/org.jacoco.doc/docroot/doc/changes.html b/org.jacoco.doc/docroot/doc/changes.html
index 98e4f66347..c970039f8e 100644
--- a/org.jacoco.doc/docroot/doc/changes.html
+++ b/org.jacoco.doc/docroot/doc/changes.html
@@ -46,6 +46,13 @@ <h3>Fixed bugs</h3>
       (GitHub <a href="https://github.com/jacoco/jacoco/issues/912">#912</a>).</li>
 </ul>
 
+<h3>Non-functional Changes</h3>
+<ul>
+  <li>Prevent startup when JaCoCo runtime cannot be initialized to avoid
+      subsequent faults
+      (GitHub <a href="https://github.com/jacoco/jacoco/issues/910">#910</a>).</li>
+</ul>
+
 <h2>Release 0.8.4 (2019/05/08)</h2>
 
 <h3>New Features</h3>