diff --git a/src/grid/discretization_grid.f90 b/src/grid/discretization_grid.f90
index 14391fd23..ad614d8c5 100644
--- a/src/grid/discretization_grid.f90
+++ b/src/grid/discretization_grid.f90
@@ -74,10 +74,10 @@ 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'
+  if (grid(1) < 2) call IO_error(844, ext_msg='cells(1) must be larger than 1')
   call MPI_Bcast(geomSize,3,MPI_DOUBLE,0,PETSC_COMM_WORLD, ierr)
   if (ierr /= 0) error stop 'MPI error'
   call MPI_Bcast(origin,3,MPI_DOUBLE,0,PETSC_COMM_WORLD, ierr)