diff --git a/src/grid/discretization_grid.f90 b/src/grid/discretization_grid.f90
index bb6fa9d8d..88216f0aa 100644
--- a/src/grid/discretization_grid.f90
+++ b/src/grid/discretization_grid.f90
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ subroutine discretization_grid_init(restart)
     allocate(materialAt_global(0))                                                                  ! needed for IntelMPI
   endif
 
+  if (grid(1) < 2) call IO_error(844, ext_msg='cells(1) must be larger than  1')
+
   call MPI_Bcast(grid,3,MPI_INTEGER,0,PETSC_COMM_WORLD, ierr)
   if (ierr /= 0) error stop 'MPI error'
   call MPI_Bcast(geomSize,3,MPI_DOUBLE,0,PETSC_COMM_WORLD, ierr)