diff --git a/pyoptsparse/pyOpt_optimization.py b/pyoptsparse/pyOpt_optimization.py
index e0bd752f..c285b194 100644
--- a/pyoptsparse/pyOpt_optimization.py
+++ b/pyoptsparse/pyOpt_optimization.py
@@ -542,16 +542,25 @@ def setDVsFromHistory(self, histFile: str, key: str | None = None) -> None:
             default is None which will use the last x-value stored in
             the dictionary.
         """
-
-        if os.path.exists(histFile):
-            hist = SqliteDict(histFile)
-            if key is None:
-                key = hist["last"]
-
-            self.setDVs(hist[key]["xuser"])
-            hist.close()
-        else:
-            raise FileNotFoundError(f"History file '{histFile}' not found!.")
+        xuser = None
+        exc: Exception | None = None
+        if self.comm.rank == 0:
+            try:
+                if not os.path.exists(histFile):
+                    raise FileNotFoundError(f"History file '{histFile}' not found!.")
+                hist = SqliteDict(histFile)
+                try:
+                    if key is None:
+                        key = hist["last"]
+                    xuser = hist[key]["xuser"]
+                finally:
+                    hist.close()
+            except Exception as e:  # re-raised on all processors after the bcast
+                exc = e
+        exc, xuser = self.comm.bcast((exc, xuser), root=0)
+        if exc is not None:
+            raise exc
+        self.setDVs(xuser)
 
     def printSparsity(self, verticalPrint: bool = False) -> None:
         """