diff --git a/mvt/ios/modules/base.py b/mvt/ios/modules/base.py
index cab0c30..4eb1309 100644
--- a/mvt/ios/modules/base.py
+++ b/mvt/ios/modules/base.py
@@ -26,27 +26,28 @@ class IOSExtraction(MVTModule):
         self.is_fs_dump = False
         self.is_sysdiagnose = False
 
-    def _recover_sqlite_db_if_needed(self, file_path):
+    def _recover_sqlite_db_if_needed(self, file_path, forced=False):
         """Tries to recover a malformed database by running a .clone command.
 
         :param file_path: Path to the malformed database file.
 
         """
         # TODO: Find a better solution.
-        conn = sqlite3.connect(file_path)
-        cur = conn.cursor()
+        if not forced:
+            conn = sqlite3.connect(file_path)
+            cur = conn.cursor()
 
-        try:
-            recover = False
-            cur.execute("SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table';")
-        except sqlite3.DatabaseError as e:
-            if "database disk image is malformed" in str(e):
-                recover = True
-        finally:
-            conn.close()
+            try:
+                recover = False
+                cur.execute("SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table';")
+            except sqlite3.DatabaseError as e:
+                if "database disk image is malformed" in str(e):
+                    recover = True
+            finally:
+                conn.close()
 
-        if not recover:
-            return
+            if not recover:
+                return
 
         self.log.info("Database at path %s is malformed. Trying to recover...", file_path)
 
diff --git a/mvt/ios/modules/mixed/sms.py b/mvt/ios/modules/mixed/sms.py
index c5cc3ea..60425b7 100644
--- a/mvt/ios/modules/mixed/sms.py
+++ b/mvt/ios/modules/mixed/sms.py
@@ -51,18 +51,37 @@ class SMS(IOSExtraction):
                                 root_paths=SMS_ROOT_PATHS)
         self.log.info("Found SMS database at path: %s", self.file_path)
 
-        conn = sqlite3.connect(self.file_path)
-        cur = conn.cursor()
-        cur.execute("""
-            SELECT
-                message.*,
-                handle.id as "phone_number"
-            FROM message, handle
-            WHERE handle.rowid = message.handle_id;
-        """)
+        try:
+            conn = sqlite3.connect(self.file_path)
+            cur = conn.cursor()
+            cur.execute("""
+                SELECT
+                    message.*,
+                    handle.id as "phone_number"
+                FROM message, handle
+                WHERE handle.rowid = message.handle_id;
+            """)
+            # Force the query early to catch database issues
+            items = list(cur)
+        except sqlite3.DatabaseError as e:
+            conn.close()
+            if "database disk image is malformed" in str(e):
+                self._recover_sqlite_db_if_needed(self.file_path, forced=True)
+                conn = sqlite3.connect(self.file_path)
+                cur = conn.cursor()
+                cur.execute("""
+                    SELECT
+                        message.*,
+                        handle.id as "phone_number"
+                    FROM message, handle
+                    WHERE handle.rowid = message.handle_id;
+                """)
+                items = list(cur)
+            else:
+                raise e
         names = [description[0] for description in cur.description]
 
-        for item in cur:
+        for item in items:
             message = {}
             for index, value in enumerate(item):
                 # We base64 escape some of the attributes that could contain