diff --git a/scrapling/spiders/engine.py b/scrapling/spiders/engine.py
index 1abeb76..463a290 100644
--- a/scrapling/spiders/engine.py
+++ b/scrapling/spiders/engine.py
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ class CrawlerEngine:
         self._items.clear()
         self.paused = False
         self._pause_requested = False
+        self._force_stop = False
         self.stats = CrawlStats(start_time=anyio.current_time())
 
         # Check for existing checkpoint
diff --git a/scrapling/spiders/spider.py b/scrapling/spiders/spider.py
index bde8f78..649f4d3 100644
--- a/scrapling/spiders/spider.py
+++ b/scrapling/spiders/spider.py
@@ -211,7 +211,9 @@ class Spider(ABC):
         manager.add("default", FetcherSession())
 
     def pause(self):
-        """Pause the crawling process if checkpoint system is enabled."""
+        """Pause the crawling process. Requires crawldir to be set for checkpoint system."""
+        if not self.crawldir:
+            raise RuntimeError("Cannot pause without crawldir - checkpoint system not enabled")
         if self._engine:
             self._engine.request_pause()
         else: