diff --git a/IPython/html/nbextensions.py b/IPython/html/nbextensions.py
index 297a161..0b51b56 100644
--- a/IPython/html/nbextensions.py
+++ b/IPython/html/nbextensions.py
@@ -75,8 +75,10 @@ def _maybe_copy(src, dest, verbose=1):
     if _should_copy(src, dest, verbose):
         if verbose >= 1:
             print("copying %s -> %s" % (src, dest))
-        shutil.copy2(src, dest)
-
+        try:
+            shutil.copy2(src, dest)
+        except IOError as e:
+            print(str(e), file=sys.stderr)
 
 def _safe_is_tarfile(path):
     """safe version of is_tarfile, return False on IOError"""