diff --git a/cmd/utils/cmd.go b/cmd/utils/cmd.go
index e5a6fb1a9a..c2dcbf2951 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/cmd.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/cmd.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"path"
 	"runtime"
 	"slices"
 	"strings"
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ func OpenBackendDB() (*leveldb.DB, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
-	dbPath := dataDir + "quaibackend"
+	dbPath := path.Join(dataDir, "quaibackend")
 
 	db, err := leveldb.OpenFile(dbPath, nil)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/utils/hierarchical_coordinator.go b/cmd/utils/hierarchical_coordinator.go
index d6440df30b..cbb39dcf41 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/hierarchical_coordinator.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/hierarchical_coordinator.go
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ type HierarchicalCoordinator struct {
 func NewHierarchicalCoordinator(p2p quai.NetworkingAPI, logLevel string, nodeWg *sync.WaitGroup, startingExpansionNumber uint64, quitCh chan struct{}) *HierarchicalCoordinator {
 	db, err := OpenBackendDB()
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Global.Fatal("Error opening the backend db")
+		log.Global.WithField("err", err).Fatal("Error opening the backend db")
 	}
 	hc := &HierarchicalCoordinator{
 		wg:                          nodeWg,