diff --git a/core/src/main/java/za/co/absa/spline/harvester/conf/InitFailureHandlingMode.java b/core/src/main/java/za/co/absa/spline/harvester/conf/InitFailureHandlingMode.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..20258b03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/main/java/za/co/absa/spline/harvester/conf/InitFailureHandlingMode.java
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2023 ABSA Group Limited
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on 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 za.co.absa.spline.harvester.conf;
+
+public enum InitFailureHandlingMode {
+
+    // Log errors and continue without lineage tracking
+    LOG,
+
+    // Propagate errors to the Spark process
+    BREAK,
+}
diff --git a/core/src/main/resources/spline.default.yaml b/core/src/main/resources/spline.default.yaml
index 5115eb72..f7829aac 100644
--- a/core/src/main/resources/spline.default.yaml
+++ b/core/src/main/resources/spline.default.yaml
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ spline:
   # (DON'T MODIFY UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS)
   internal.execPlan.uuid.version: 5
 
+  # How the agent should respond to initialization errors:
+  # - LOG        (log the error and disable the agent. Spark job continues unaffected without lineage tracking.)
+  # - BREAK      (propagate the error to the Spark process.)
+  onInitFailure: LOG
+
   # Should the agent capture failed executions:
   # - NONE        (only capture successful executions)
   # - NON_FATAL   (capture successful executions, and failed executions, but only when the error is non-fatal)
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/agent/AgentBOM.scala b/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/agent/AgentBOM.scala
index bc7da129..124d32d8 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/agent/AgentBOM.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/agent/AgentBOM.scala
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import org.apache.spark.sql.SparkSession
 import za.co.absa.spline.HierarchicalObjectFactory
 import za.co.absa.spline.agent.AgentConfig.ConfProperty
 import za.co.absa.spline.harvester.IdGenerator.UUIDVersion
-import za.co.absa.spline.harvester.conf.{SQLFailureCaptureMode, SplineMode}
+import za.co.absa.spline.harvester.conf.{InitFailureHandlingMode, SQLFailureCaptureMode, SplineMode}
 import za.co.absa.spline.harvester.dispatcher.{CompositeLineageDispatcher, LineageDispatcher}
 import za.co.absa.spline.harvester.iwd.IgnoredWriteDetectionStrategy
 import za.co.absa.spline.harvester.postprocessing.{CompositePostProcessingFilter, PostProcessingFilter}
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import scala.reflect.ClassTag
 
 private[spline] trait AgentBOM {
   def splineMode: SplineMode
+  def initFailureHandlingMode: InitFailureHandlingMode
   def sqlFailureCaptureMode: SQLFailureCaptureMode
   def postProcessingFilter: Option[PostProcessingFilter]
   def lineageDispatcher: LineageDispatcher
@@ -58,6 +59,10 @@ object AgentBOM {
       mergedConfig.getRequiredEnum[SQLFailureCaptureMode](ConfProperty.SQLFailureCaptureMode)
     }
 
+    override def initFailureHandlingMode: InitFailureHandlingMode = {
+      mergedConfig.getRequiredEnum[InitFailureHandlingMode](ConfProperty.InitFailureHandlingMode)
+    }
+
     override def execPlanUUIDVersion: UUIDVersion = {
       mergedConfig.getRequiredInt(ConfProperty.ExecPlanUUIDVersion)
     }
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/agent/AgentConfig.scala b/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/agent/AgentConfig.scala
index 1e5b992e..183512a7 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/agent/AgentConfig.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/agent/AgentConfig.scala
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ object AgentConfig {
 
   def from(configuration: Configuration): AgentConfig = from(
     configuration
-      .getKeys.asScala.toSeq.asInstanceOf[Seq[String]]
+      .getKeys.asScala.toSeq
       .map(k => k -> configuration.getProperty(k)))
 
   def from(options: Iterable[(String, Any)]): AgentConfig =
@@ -95,10 +95,17 @@ object AgentConfig {
      */
     val Mode = "spline.mode"
 
+    /**
+     * How Spline should handle initialization errors.
+     *
+     * @see [[za.co.absa.spline.harvester.conf.InitFailureHandlingMode]]
+     */
+    val InitFailureHandlingMode = "spline.onInitFailure"
+
     /**
      * How Spline should handle failed SQL executions.
      *
-     * @see [[SQLFailureCaptureMode]]
+     * @see [[za.co.absa.spline.harvester.conf.SQLFailureCaptureMode]]
      */
     val SQLFailureCaptureMode = "spline.sql.failure.capture"
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/harvester/SparkLineageInitializer.scala b/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/harvester/SparkLineageInitializer.scala
index 3872cb5e..38673340 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/harvester/SparkLineageInitializer.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/spline/harvester/SparkLineageInitializer.scala
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ private[spline] class SparkLineageInitializer(sparkSession: SparkSession) extend
       logInfo("initialization aborted")
       None
     }
-    else withErrorHandling {
+    else withErrorHandling(bom.initFailureHandlingMode) {
       if (isCodelessInit)
         Some(createListener(bom))
       else
@@ -171,11 +171,11 @@ private[spline] class SparkLineageInitializer(sparkSession: SparkSession) extend
     }
   }
 
-  private def withErrorHandling(body: => Option[QueryExecutionListener]) = {
+  private def withErrorHandling(initFailureMode: InitFailureHandlingMode)(body: => Option[QueryExecutionListener]) = {
     try {
       body
     } catch {
-      case NonFatal(e) =>
+      case NonFatal(e) if initFailureMode == InitFailureHandlingMode.LOG =>
         logError(s"Spline initialization failed! Spark Lineage tracking is DISABLED.", e)
         None
     }
diff --git a/examples/Dockerfile b/examples/Dockerfile
index 33d4cbe8..92e73e56 100644
--- a/examples/Dockerfile
+++ b/examples/Dockerfile
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ RUN chmod a+x /entrypoint.sh
 # Bind environment variables
 ENV SPLINE_PRODUCER_URL=
 ENV SPLINE_MODE=ENABLED
+ENV ON_INIT_FAILURE=BREAK
 ENV DISABLE_SSL_VALIDATION=false
 
 ENV HTTP_PROXY_HOST=
diff --git a/examples/entrypoint.sh b/examples/entrypoint.sh
index e96992bf..a98db660 100644
--- a/examples/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/examples/entrypoint.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ exec ./run.sh \
     -Dspline.lineageDispatcher=http \
     -Dspline.lineageDispatcher.http.producer.url="$SPLINE_PRODUCER_URL" \
     -Dspline.lineageDispatcher.http.disableSslValidation="$DISABLE_SSL_VALIDATION" \
+    -Dspline.onInitFailure="$ON_INIT_FAILURE" \
     -Dspline.mode="$SPLINE_MODE" \
     -Dhttp.proxyHost="$HTTP_PROXY_HOST" \
     -Dhttp.proxyPort="$HTTP_PROXY_PORT" \