diff --git a/lang/en/error.php b/lang/en/error.php
index 5a1a66ef637..13c00336db6 100644
--- a/lang/en/error.php
+++ b/lang/en/error.php
@@ -250,6 +250,7 @@ $string['headersent'] = 'Headers already sent';
 $string['idnumbertaken'] = 'ID number is already used for another course';
 $string['importformatnotimplement'] = 'Sorry, importing this format is not yet implemented!';
 $string['incorrectext'] = 'File has an incorrect extension';
+$string['installproblem'] = 'It is usually not possible to recover from errors triggered during installation, you may need to create a new database or use a different database prefix if you want to retry the installation.';
 $string['internalauthpassworderror'] = 'Missing password or invalid password policy for internal authentication';
 $string['invalidaccess'] = 'This page was not accessed correctly';
 $string['invalidaccessparameter'] = 'Invalid access parameter';
diff --git a/lib/outputrenderers.php b/lib/outputrenderers.php
index ab77c6c91fe..ed633f463c7 100644
--- a/lib/outputrenderers.php
+++ b/lib/outputrenderers.php
@@ -2066,6 +2066,10 @@ EOD;
         $message = '<p class="errormessage">' . $message . '</p>'.
                 '<p class="errorcode"><a href="' . $moreinfourl . '">' .
                 get_string('moreinformation') . '</a></p>';
+        if (empty($CFG->rolesactive)) {
+            $message .= '<p class="errormessage">' . get_string('installproblem', 'error') . '</p>';
+            //It is usually not possible to recover from errors triggered during installation, you may need to create a new database or use a different database prefix for new installation.
+        }
         $output .= $this->box($message, 'errorbox');
 
         if (debugging('', DEBUG_DEVELOPER)) {
@@ -2082,7 +2086,9 @@ EOD;
             }
         }
 
-        if (!empty($link)) {
+        if (empty($CFG->rolesactive)) {
+            // continue does not make much sense if moodle is not installed yet because error is most probably not recoverable
+        } else if (!empty($link)) {
             $output .= $this->continue_button($link);
         }