diff --git a/rtengine/procparams.cc b/rtengine/procparams.cc
index 743553786..f7618e84d 100644
--- a/rtengine/procparams.cc
+++ b/rtengine/procparams.cc
@@ -3383,7 +3383,8 @@ int ProcParams::load(const Glib::ustring& fname, ParamsEdited* pedited)
             pedited->set (false);
         }
 
-        if (!keyFile.load_from_file(fname)) {
+        if (!Glib::file_test(fname, Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS) ||
+            !keyFile.load_from_file(fname)) {
             return 1;
         }