diff --git a/.buildlibrary b/.buildlibrary
index fc5fe90..2dc9f75 100644
--- a/.buildlibrary
+++ b/.buildlibrary
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-ValidationKey: '4271190'
+ValidationKey: '4291920'
 AcceptedWarnings:
 - 'Warning: package ''.*'' was built under R version'
 - 'Warning: namespace ''.*'' is not available and has been replaced'
diff --git a/CITATION.cff b/CITATION.cff
index d5ed0b3..05ccd31 100644
--- a/CITATION.cff
+++ b/CITATION.cff
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ cff-version: 1.2.0
 message: If you use this software, please cite it using the metadata from this file.
 type: software
 title: 'modelstats: Run Analysis Tools'
-version: 0.21.5
-date-released: '2024-05-23'
+version: 0.21.6
+date-released: '2024-05-27'
 abstract: A collection of tools to analyze model runs.
 authors:
 - family-names: Giannousakis
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 4f5da2d..2946458 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 Package: modelstats
 Type: Package
 Title: Run Analysis Tools
-Version: 0.21.5
-Date: 2024-05-23
+Version: 0.21.6
+Date: 2024-05-27
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Anastasis", "Giannousakis", email = "giannou@pik-potsdam.de", role = c("aut","cre")),
     person("Oliver", "Richters", role = "aut")
diff --git a/R/modeltests.R b/R/modeltests.R
index 86fcbdf..8f63428 100644
--- a/R/modeltests.R
+++ b/R/modeltests.R
@@ -187,13 +187,20 @@ evaluateRuns <- function(model, mydir, gitPath, compScen, email, mattermostToken
   # wait for all AMT runs to finish
   if (!test) {
     message(format(Sys.time(), "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"), " - waiting for all AMT runs to finish.")
+    errCount <- 0
     repeat {
-      jobsInSlurm <- system(paste0("/p/system/slurm/bin/squeue -u ", user,
-                                   " -h -o '%i %q %T %C %M %j %V %L %e %Z'"), intern = TRUE)
-      if (!any(grepl(mydir, jobsInSlurm))) {
-        Sys.sleep(600)
+      jobsInSlurm <- system(paste0("/p/system/slurm/bin/squeue -u ", user, " -alklksjdf -h -o '%i %q %T %C %M %j %V %L %e %Z'"), intern = TRUE)
+      if (isTRUE(attributes(jobsInSlurm)$status > 0)) {
+        # count how often squeue fails
+        errCount <- errCount + 1
+        if (errCount > 3) stop("squeue had exit status > 0 more than 3 times in a row.")
+      } else if (!any(grepl(mydir, jobsInSlurm))) {
         break
+      } else {
+        # reset if squeue was successful
+        errCount <- 0 
       }
+      Sys.sleep(600)
     }
     message(format(Sys.time(), "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"), " - all AMT runs finished.")
   }
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index be20b0a..e5c4218 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Run Analysis Tools
 
-R package **modelstats**, version **0.21.5**
+R package **modelstats**, version **0.21.6**
 
 [![CRAN status](https://www.r-pkg.org/badges/version/modelstats)](https://cran.r-project.org/package=modelstats)  [![R build status](https://github.com/pik-piam/modelstats/workflows/check/badge.svg)](https://github.com/pik-piam/modelstats/actions) [![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/pik-piam/modelstats/branch/master/graph/badge.svg)](https://app.codecov.io/gh/pik-piam/modelstats) [![r-universe](https://pik-piam.r-universe.dev/badges/modelstats)](https://pik-piam.r-universe.dev/builds)
 
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ In case of questions / problems please contact Anastasis Giannousakis <giannou@p
 
 To cite package **modelstats** in publications use:
 
-Giannousakis A, Richters O (2024). _modelstats: Run Analysis Tools_. R package version 0.21.5, <URL: https://github.com/pik-piam/modelstats>.
+Giannousakis A, Richters O (2024). _modelstats: Run Analysis Tools_. R package version 0.21.6, <https://github.com/pik-piam/modelstats>.
 
 A BibTeX entry for LaTeX users is
 
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ A BibTeX entry for LaTeX users is
   title = {modelstats: Run Analysis Tools},
   author = {Anastasis Giannousakis and Oliver Richters},
   year = {2024},
-  note = {R package version 0.21.5},
+  note = {R package version 0.21.6},
   url = {https://github.com/pik-piam/modelstats},
 }
 ```