diff --git a/SparkleLib/SparkleConfig.cs b/SparkleLib/SparkleConfig.cs
index fb9e504b..c8f9e407 100644
--- a/SparkleLib/SparkleConfig.cs
+++ b/SparkleLib/SparkleConfig.cs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 
 using System;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Xml;
 
 namespace SparkleLib {
@@ -30,6 +31,9 @@ namespace SparkleLib {
 
         public SparkleConfig (string path)
         {
+            if (!File.Exists (path))
+                throw new ConfigFileNotFoundException (path + " does not exist");
+
             Path = path;
             Load (Path);
         }
@@ -95,4 +99,11 @@ namespace SparkleLib {
             Save (Path);
         }
     }
-}
+
+
+    public class ConfigFileNotFoundException : Exception {
+
+        public ConfigFileNotFoundException (string message)
+            : base (message) { }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file