diff --git a/R/help/getAliases.R b/R/help/getAliases.R
index fc778faa1..153137d9a 100644
--- a/R/help/getAliases.R
+++ b/R/help/getAliases.R
@@ -22,10 +22,19 @@ ret <- lapply(rownames(ip), function(row) {
     aliases = NULL
   )
   if (file.exists(filename)) {
-    info[["aliases"]] <- as.list(readRDS(filename))
+    res <- tryCatch(
+      expr = as.list(readRDS(filename)),
+      error = conditionMessage
+    )
+    if (is.list(res)) {
+      info$aliases <- res
+    } else {
+      info$error <- res
+    }
   }
   info
 })
+
 names(ret) <- rownames(ip)
 
 lim <- Sys.getenv("VSCR_LIM")
diff --git a/src/helpViewer/helpProvider.ts b/src/helpViewer/helpProvider.ts
index 7b023e6c4..2ff391a7b 100644
--- a/src/helpViewer/helpProvider.ts
+++ b/src/helpViewer/helpProvider.ts
@@ -161,7 +161,8 @@ interface PackageAliases {
     aliasFile?: string;
     aliases?: {
         [key: string]: string;
-    }
+    },
+    error?: string
 }
 interface AllPackageAliases {
     [key: string]: PackageAliases
@@ -221,9 +222,16 @@ export class AliasProvider {
 
         // flatten aliases into one list:
         const allAliases: rHelp.Alias[] = [];
-        for(const pkg in allPackageAliases){
-            const pkgName = allPackageAliases[pkg].package || pkg;
-            const pkgAliases = allPackageAliases[pkg].aliases || {};
+        for (const pkg in allPackageAliases) {
+            const item = allPackageAliases[pkg];
+            const pkgName = item.package || pkg;
+
+            if (item.error) {
+                void window.showErrorMessage(`An error occurred while reading the aliases file for package ${pkgName}: ${item.error}. The package files may be corrupted. Try reinstalling the package.`);
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            const pkgAliases = item.aliases || {};
             for(const fncName in pkgAliases){
                 allAliases.push({
                     name: pkgAliases[fncName],