diff --git a/lib/mergeset/table.go b/lib/mergeset/table.go
index 6945024672..cb875c0269 100644
--- a/lib/mergeset/table.go
+++ b/lib/mergeset/table.go
@@ -316,7 +316,8 @@ func OpenTable(path string, flushCallback func(), prepareBlock PrepareBlockCallb
 	// Protect from concurrent opens.
 	flockF, err := fs.CreateFlockFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot create lock file in %q; "+
+			"make sure the dir isn't used by other processes or manually delete the file if you recover from abrupt VictoriaMetrics crash; error: %w", path, err)
 	}
 
 	// Open table parts.
diff --git a/lib/storage/storage.go b/lib/storage/storage.go
index 5503708430..702628d2ad 100644
--- a/lib/storage/storage.go
+++ b/lib/storage/storage.go
@@ -187,7 +187,8 @@ func OpenStorage(path string, retentionMsecs int64, maxHourlySeries, maxDailySer
 	// Protect from concurrent opens.
 	flockF, err := fs.CreateFlockFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot create lock file in %q; "+
+			"make sure the dir isn't used by other processes or manually delete the file if you recover from abrupt VictoriaMetrics crash; error: %w", path, err)
 	}
 	s.flockF = flockF
 
diff --git a/lib/storage/table.go b/lib/storage/table.go
index 5eca5e4a3a..690d21715f 100644
--- a/lib/storage/table.go
+++ b/lib/storage/table.go
@@ -90,7 +90,8 @@ func openTable(path string, s *Storage) (*table, error) {
 	// Protect from concurrent opens.
 	flockF, err := fs.CreateFlockFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot create lock file in %q; "+
+			"make sure the dir isn't used by other processes or manually delete the file if you recover from abrupt VictoriaMetrics crash; error: %w", path, err)
 	}
 
 	// Create directories for small and big partitions if they don't exist yet.