diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 9ca4d28..5782a55 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+Version 0.11.1
+--------------
+
+- Revert raising an error if the env variable SHMDIR isn't set. Log a more detailed warning instead.
+
+
 Version 0.11.0
 --------------
 
diff --git a/src/blueetl/utils.py b/src/blueetl/utils.py
index 442475f..b7f141a 100644
--- a/src/blueetl/utils.py
+++ b/src/blueetl/utils.py
@@ -335,15 +335,17 @@ def copy_config(src: StrOrPath, dst: StrOrPath) -> None:
     dump_yaml(dst, config, default_flow_style=None)
 
 
-def get_shmdir() -> Path:
-    """Return the shared memory directory, or raise an error if not set."""
+def get_shmdir() -> Optional[Path]:
+    """Return the shared memory directory, or return None if not set."""
     shmdir = os.getenv("SHMDIR")
     if not shmdir:
-        raise RuntimeError(
-            "SHMDIR must be set to the shared memory directory. "
-            "The variable should be automatically set when running on an allocated node, "
+        L.warning(
+            "SHMDIR should be set to the shared memory directory, "
+            "or the process may be slower, or even fail because of insufficient space. "
+            "The variable is automatically set when running on an allocated node, "
             "but it's not set when connecting via SSH to a pre-allocated node."
         )
+        return None
     shmdir = Path(shmdir)
     if not shmdir.is_dir():
         raise RuntimeError("SHMDIR must be set to an existing directory")
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_utils.py b/tests/unit/test_utils.py
index a6a4929..dc54771 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_utils.py
@@ -293,8 +293,8 @@ def test_get_shmdir(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
     assert shmdir == tmp_path
 
     monkeypatch.delenv("SHMDIR")
-    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="SHMDIR must be set to the shared memory directory"):
-        test_module.get_shmdir()
+    shmdir = test_module.get_shmdir()
+    assert shmdir is None
 
     monkeypatch.setenv("SHMDIR", str(tmp_path / "non-existent"))
     with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="SHMDIR must be set to an existing directory"):