diff --git a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/kinesis/clientlibrary/lib/worker/InitializeTask.java b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/kinesis/clientlibrary/lib/worker/InitializeTask.java
index 11da75e3..5e847a89 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/kinesis/clientlibrary/lib/worker/InitializeTask.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/kinesis/clientlibrary/lib/worker/InitializeTask.java
@@ -110,7 +110,6 @@ class InitializeTask implements ITask {
                 LOG.error("Application initialize() threw exception: ", e);
             } else {
                 LOG.error("Caught exception: ", e);
-                throw new RuntimeException(e);
             }
             exception = e;
             // backoff if we encounter an exception.