diff --git a/sisyphus/global_settings.py b/sisyphus/global_settings.py
index 3c3cd43..36431d9 100644
--- a/sisyphus/global_settings.py
+++ b/sisyphus/global_settings.py
@@ -195,6 +195,11 @@ def file_caching(path):
 WAIT_PERIOD_JOB_CLEANUP = 10
 #: How many seconds should all inputs be available before starting a job to avoid file system synchronization problems
 WAIT_PERIOD_MTIME_OF_INPUTS = 60
+#: How long to wait for all inputs to be available in Task.run (https://github.com/rwth-i6/sisyphus/issues/159)
+WAIT_PERIOD_FOR_INPUTS_AVAILABLE = 60
+
+#: Fail when not all inputs are available after WAIT_PERIOD_FOR_INPUTS_AVAILABLE
+TASK_INPUTS_MUST_BE_AVAILABLE = True
 
 #: set true to automatically clean jobs in error state and retry
 CLEAR_ERROR = False
diff --git a/sisyphus/task.py b/sisyphus/task.py
index 85b2bce..e874689 100644
--- a/sisyphus/task.py
+++ b/sisyphus/task.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import math
 import os
 import logging
 import sys
@@ -137,13 +138,24 @@ def run(self, task_id, resume_job=False, logging_thread=None):
             else:
                 logging.info("%s (Variable: %s, %s)" % (i.get_path(), str(i), type(i.get())))
 
+            if gs.WAIT_PERIOD_FOR_INPUTS_AVAILABLE:
+                for _ in range(math.ceil(gs.WAIT_PERIOD_FOR_INPUTS_AVAILABLE)):
+                    if os.path.exists(i.get_path()):
+                        break
+                    logging.warning("Input path does not exist, waiting: %s" % i.get_path())
+                    time.sleep(1)
+
             # each input must be at least X seconds old
             # if an input file is too young it's may not synced in a network filesystem yet
             try:
                 input_age = time.time() - os.stat(i.get_path()).st_mtime
                 time.sleep(max(0, gs.WAIT_PERIOD_MTIME_OF_INPUTS - input_age))
             except FileNotFoundError:
-                logging.warning("Input path does not exist: %s" % i.get_path())
+                (logging.error if gs.TASK_INPUTS_MUST_BE_AVAILABLE else logging.warning)(
+                    "Input path does not exist: %s" % i.get_path()
+                )
+                if gs.TASK_INPUTS_MUST_BE_AVAILABLE:
+                    raise
 
         tools.get_system_informations(sys.stdout)
         sys.stdout.flush()