diff --git a/charms/worker/k8s/src/charm.py b/charms/worker/k8s/src/charm.py
index 6154f10c..f04797e6 100755
--- a/charms/worker/k8s/src/charm.py
+++ b/charms/worker/k8s/src/charm.py
@@ -269,6 +269,7 @@ def _configure_datastore(self, config: BootstrapConfig):
                 datastore,
                 ", ".join(SUPPORTED_DATASTORES),
             )
+            status.add(ops.BlockedStatus(f"Invalid datastore: {datastore}"))
 
         if datastore == "etcd":
             log.info("Using etcd as external datastore")