diff --git a/tools/ircdbConvert.py b/tools/ircdbConvert.py
index f8115164a..138c9ebdc 100755
--- a/tools/ircdbConvert.py
+++ b/tools/ircdbConvert.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ class IrcUser:
     def __init__(self, **kwargs):
         self.__dict__.update(kwargs)
 
+IrcChannel = IrcUser
 UserCapabilitySet = list
 CapabilitySet = list
 
@@ -28,46 +29,51 @@ def write(fd, s):
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     shutil.copy(userFile, userFile + '.bak')
     shutil.copy(channelFile, channelFile + '.bak')
-    # Users.conf.
-    fd = file(userFile)
-    s = fd.read().strip()
-    (_, L) = eval(s, locals(), globals())
-    fd = file(userFile, 'w')
-    for (i, u) in enumerate(L):
-        if i == 0 or u is None:
-            continue
-        write(fd, 'user %s' % i)
-        write(fd, '  name %s' % u.name)
-        write(fd, '  ignore %s' % u.ignore)
-        write(fd, '  secure %s' % u.secure)
-        write(fd, '  hashed %s' % u.hashed)
-        write(fd, '  password %s' % u.password)
-        for capability in u.capabilities:
-            try:
-                (channel, capability) = rsplit(capability, '.', 1)
-                capability = ','.join(channel, capability)
-            except ValueError:
-                pass
-            write(fd, '  capability %s' % capability)
-        for hostmask in u.hostmasks:
-            write(fd, '  hostmask %s' % hostmask)
-        write(fd, '')
-    fd.close()
+    try:
+        # Users.conf.
+        fd = file(userFile)
+        s = fd.read().strip()
+        (_, L) = eval(s, locals(), globals())
+        fd = file(userFile, 'w')
+        for (i, u) in enumerate(L):
+            if i == 0 or u is None:
+                continue
+            write(fd, 'user %s' % i)
+            write(fd, '  name %s' % u.name)
+            write(fd, '  ignore %s' % u.ignore)
+            write(fd, '  secure %s' % u.secure)
+            write(fd, '  hashed %s' % u.hashed)
+            write(fd, '  password %s' % u.password)
+            for capability in u.capabilities:
+                try:
+                    (channel, capability) = rsplit(capability, '.', 1)
+                    capability = ','.join([channel, capability])
+                except ValueError:
+                    pass
+                write(fd, '  capability %s' % capability)
+            for hostmask in u.hostmasks:
+                write(fd, '  hostmask %s' % hostmask)
+            write(fd, '')
+        fd.close()
 
-    # Channels.conf.
-    fd = file(channelFile)
-    s = fd.read().strip()
-    d = eval(s, locals(), globals())
-    fd = file(channelFile, 'w')
-    for (name, c) in d.iteritems():
-        write(fd, 'channel %s' % name)
-        write(fd, '  defaultAllow %s' % c.defaultAllow)
-        write(fd, '  lobotomized %s' % c.lobotomized)
-        for capability in c.capabilities:
-            write(fd, '  capability %s' % capability)
-        for ban in c.bans:
-            write(fd, '  ban %s' % ban)
-        for ignore in c.ignores:
-            write(fd, '  ignore %s' % ignore)
-        write(fd, '')
-        
+        # Channels.conf.
+        fd = file(channelFile)
+        s = fd.read().strip()
+        d = eval(s, locals(), globals())
+        fd = file(channelFile, 'w')
+        for (name, c) in d.iteritems():
+            write(fd, 'channel %s' % name)
+            write(fd, '  defaultAllow %s' % c.defaultAllow)
+            write(fd, '  lobotomized %s' % c.lobotomized)
+            for capability in c.capabilities:
+                write(fd, '  capability %s' % capability)
+            for ban in c.bans:
+                write(fd, '  ban %s' % ban)
+            for ignore in c.ignores:
+                write(fd, '  ignore %s' % ignore)
+            write(fd, '')
+    except Exception, e:
+        print 'Exception raised, restoring backups.'
+        shutil.copy(userFile + '.bak', userFile)
+        shutil.copy(channelFile + '.bak', channelFile)
+        raise