diff --git a/src/modules/battery.cpp b/src/modules/battery.cpp
index d39c4920..30be3857 100644
--- a/src/modules/battery.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/battery.cpp
@@ -126,7 +126,14 @@ void waybar::modules::Battery::refreshBatteries() {
           // Ignore non-system power supplies unless explicitly requested
           if (!bat_defined && fs::exists(node.path() / "scope")) {
             std::string scope;
-            std::ifstream(node.path() / "scope") >> scope;
+            try {
+              // for hotplug-in device, access it is always unstable because you may remove the
+              // device anytime so just allow failure happen and do nothing
+              std::ifstream(node.path() / "scope") >> scope;
+            } catch (const std::ifstream::failure& e) {
+              scope.clear();
+              continue;
+            }
             if (g_ascii_strcasecmp(scope.data(), "device") == 0) {
               continue;
             }