diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ae936509..2c9b0555 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "author": "Calvin Montgomery",
   "name": "CyTube",
   "description": "Online media synchronizer and chat",
-  "version": "3.74.0",
+  "version": "3.74.1",
   "repository": {
     "url": "http://github.com/calzoneman/sync"
   },
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index 01e71d51..85f356a0 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -136,29 +136,19 @@ let captchaConfig = new CaptchaConfig();
  * Initializes the configuration from the given YAML file
  */
 exports.load = function (file) {
+    let absPath = path.join(__dirname, "..", file);
     try {
-        cfg = YAML.load(path.join(__dirname, "..", file));
+        cfg = YAML.load(absPath);
     } catch (e) {
         if (e.code === "ENOENT") {
-            LOGGER.info(file + " does not exist, assuming default configuration");
-            cfg = defaults;
-            return;
+            throw new Error(`No such file: ${absPath}`);
         } else {
-            LOGGER.error("Error loading config file " + file + ": ");
-            LOGGER.error(e);
-            if (e.stack) {
-                LOGGER.error(e.stack);
-            }
-            cfg = defaults;
-            return;
+            throw new Error(`Invalid config file ${absPath}: ${e}`);
         }
     }
 
     if (cfg == null) {
-        LOGGER.info(file + " is an Invalid configuration file, " +
-                          "assuming default configuration");
-        cfg = defaults;
-        return;
+        throw new Error("Configuration parser returned null");
     }
 
     if (cfg.mail) {
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index e1634697..325d2e49 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -5,7 +5,15 @@ require('source-map-support').install();
 
 const LOGGER = require('@calzoneman/jsli')('main');
 
-Config.load('config.yaml');
+try {
+    Config.load('config.yaml');
+} catch (e) {
+    LOGGER.fatal(
+        "Failed to load configuration: %s",
+        e
+    );
+    process.exit(1);
+}
 
 const sv = require('./server').init();
 
@@ -26,7 +34,14 @@ if (!Config.get('debug')) {
 function handleLine(line) {
     if (line === '/reload') {
         LOGGER.info('Reloading config');
-        Config.load('config.yaml');
+        try {
+            Config.load('config.yaml');
+        } catch (e) {
+            LOGGER.error(
+                "Failed to load configuration: %s",
+                e
+            );
+        }
         require('./web/pug').clearCache();
     } else if (line.indexOf('/switch') === 0) {
         const args = line.split(' ');