diff --git a/deltachat-jsonrpc/src/api.rs b/deltachat-jsonrpc/src/api.rs
index 61d4fe7c1..74165e305 100644
--- a/deltachat-jsonrpc/src/api.rs
+++ b/deltachat-jsonrpc/src/api.rs
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ impl CommandApi {
     /// I/O must be started for this request to take effect.
     async fn clear_all_relay_storage(&self, account_id: u32) -> Result<()> {
         let ctx = self.get_context(account_id).await?;
-        ctx.clear_all_relay_storage().await;
+        ctx.clear_all_relay_storage().await?;
         Ok(())
     }
 
diff --git a/src/context.rs b/src/context.rs
index c32a3add4..e6347c29d 100644
--- a/src/context.rs
+++ b/src/context.rs
@@ -565,8 +565,8 @@ impl Context {
     /// Non-chatmail relays are excluded
     /// to avoid accidentally deleting emails
     /// from shared inboxes.
-    pub async fn clear_all_relay_storage(&self) {
-        self.scheduler.clear_all_relay_storage().await;
+    pub async fn clear_all_relay_storage(&self) -> Result<()> {
+        self.scheduler.clear_all_relay_storage().await
     }
 
     /// Restarts the IO scheduler if it was running before
diff --git a/src/scheduler.rs b/src/scheduler.rs
index 0ae6c6ac3..4710f7847 100644
--- a/src/scheduler.rs
+++ b/src/scheduler.rs
@@ -256,10 +256,13 @@ impl SchedulerState {
         }
     }
 
-    pub(crate) async fn clear_all_relay_storage(&self) {
+    pub(crate) async fn clear_all_relay_storage(&self) -> Result<()> {
         let inner = self.inner.read().await;
         if let InnerSchedulerState::Started(ref scheduler) = *inner {
             scheduler.clear_all_relay_storage();
+            Ok(())
+        } else {
+            bail!("IO is not started");
         }
     }