diff --git a/beetsplug/scrub.py b/beetsplug/scrub.py
index f69e3abf1..1a95c222e 100644
--- a/beetsplug/scrub.py
+++ b/beetsplug/scrub.py
@@ -108,6 +108,11 @@ def _scrub(path):
             # remove them. In this case, we just remove all the tags.
             for tag in f.keys():
                 del f[tag]
+        except IOError as exc:
+            log.error(u'could not scrub {0}: {1}'.format(
+                util.displayable_path(path),
+                exc,
+            ))
         f.save()
 
 # Automatically embed art into imported albums.
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 5f7ce39cc..3baf66585 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ And some bug fixes:
   Intzoglou.
 * Fix an occasional crash in the :doc:`/plugins/beatport` when a length
   field was missing from the API response. Thanks to Timothy Appnel.
+* :doc:`/plugins/scrub`: Handle and log I/O errors.
 
 
 1.2.0 (June 5, 2013)