diff --git a/src/v/storage/log_reader.cc b/src/v/storage/log_reader.cc
index b027b7a0a2633..1aaf9094441b3 100644
--- a/src/v/storage/log_reader.cc
+++ b/src/v/storage/log_reader.cc
@@ -206,7 +206,16 @@ log_segment_batch_reader::read_some(model::timeout_clock::time_point timeout) {
           }
           auto tmp = std::exchange(_state, {});
           return result<records_t>(std::move(tmp.buffer));
-      });
+      })
+      .handle_exception_type(
+        [](const std::system_error& ec) -> ss::future<result<records_t>> {
+            if (ec.code().value() == EIO) {
+                vassert(false, "I/O error during read!  Disk failure?");
+            } else {
+                return ss::make_exception_future<result<records_t>>(
+                  std::current_exception());
+            }
+        });
 }
 
 log_reader::log_reader(