diff --git a/ethereum/core/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/db/DefaultMutableBlockchain.java b/ethereum/core/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/db/DefaultMutableBlockchain.java
index d5b9bcd7c6..07e96fa0a3 100644
--- a/ethereum/core/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/db/DefaultMutableBlockchain.java
+++ b/ethereum/core/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/db/DefaultMutableBlockchain.java
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.core.BlockHeader;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.core.Hash;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.core.Transaction;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.core.TransactionReceipt;
-import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.util.InvalidConfigurationException;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.MetricCategory;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.MetricsSystem;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.InvalidConfigurationException;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.Subscribers;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.bytes.BytesValues;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.uint.UInt256;
diff --git a/ethereum/core/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/db/GenesisBlockMismatchTest.java b/ethereum/core/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/db/GenesisBlockMismatchTest.java
index bb03ca0147..62cc2f6251 100644
--- a/ethereum/core/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/db/GenesisBlockMismatchTest.java
+++ b/ethereum/core/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/db/GenesisBlockMismatchTest.java
@@ -24,10 +24,10 @@ import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.core.Hash;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.core.LogsBloomFilter;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.mainnet.MainnetBlockHashFunction;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.storage.keyvalue.KeyValueStoragePrefixedKeyBlockchainStorage;
-import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.util.InvalidConfigurationException;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.noop.NoOpMetricsSystem;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.services.kvstore.InMemoryKeyValueStorage;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.services.kvstore.KeyValueStorage;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.InvalidConfigurationException;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.bytes.Bytes32;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.bytes.BytesValue;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.uint.UInt256;
diff --git a/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommand.java b/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommand.java
index bd91c7a141..d958e21dab 100644
--- a/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommand.java
+++ b/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommand.java
@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.p2p.config.DiscoveryConfiguration;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.p2p.peers.DefaultPeer;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.p2p.peers.Peer;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.permissioning.PermissioningConfiguration;
-import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.util.InvalidConfigurationException;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.MetricsSystem;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.prometheus.MetricsConfiguration;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.prometheus.PrometheusMetricsSystem;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.BlockImporter;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.InvalidConfigurationException;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.bytes.BytesValue;
 
 import java.io.File;
diff --git a/services/kvstore/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/services/kvstore/RocksDbKeyValueStorage.java b/services/kvstore/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/services/kvstore/RocksDbKeyValueStorage.java
index efe09c7ec9..7fd757fc1e 100644
--- a/services/kvstore/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/services/kvstore/RocksDbKeyValueStorage.java
+++ b/services/kvstore/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/services/kvstore/RocksDbKeyValueStorage.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.Counter;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.MetricCategory;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.MetricsSystem;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.OperationTimer;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.InvalidConfigurationException;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.util.bytes.BytesValue;
 
 import java.io.Closeable;
@@ -54,15 +55,26 @@ public class RocksDbKeyValueStorage implements KeyValueStorage, Closeable {
   private final OperationTimer commitLatency;
   private final Counter rollbackCount;
 
-  static {
-    RocksDB.loadLibrary();
-  }
-
   public static KeyValueStorage create(
       final Path storageDirectory, final MetricsSystem metricsSystem) throws StorageException {
+    loadNativeLibrary();
     return new RocksDbKeyValueStorage(storageDirectory, metricsSystem);
   }
 
+  private static void loadNativeLibrary() {
+    try {
+      RocksDB.loadLibrary();
+    } catch (final ExceptionInInitializerError e) {
+      if (e.getCause() instanceof UnsupportedOperationException) {
+        LOG.info("Unable to load RocksDB library", e);
+        throw new InvalidConfigurationException(
+            "Unsupported platform detected. On Windows, ensure you have 64bit Java installed.");
+      } else {
+        throw e;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   private RocksDbKeyValueStorage(final Path storageDirectory, final MetricsSystem metricsSystem) {
     try {
       options = new Options().setCreateIfMissing(true);
diff --git a/ethereum/core/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/util/InvalidConfigurationException.java b/util/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/util/InvalidConfigurationException.java
similarity index 94%
rename from ethereum/core/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/util/InvalidConfigurationException.java
rename to util/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/util/InvalidConfigurationException.java
index 3ed799045a..dbe65455ab 100644
--- a/ethereum/core/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/util/InvalidConfigurationException.java
+++ b/util/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/util/InvalidConfigurationException.java
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
  * an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
  * specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
  */
-package tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.util;
+package tech.pegasys.pantheon.util;
 
 public class InvalidConfigurationException extends IllegalArgumentException {
   public InvalidConfigurationException(final String message) {