diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index b602cdc..0f8ad66 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -176,8 +176,9 @@ int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
         main_saver = saver.get();
         main_saver->setup(main_context.get(), {0, 0, WIDTH, HEIGHT});
         std::string config_path {plugin_dir + "/" + saver_name + ".json"};
-        if (sc::file_exists(config_path)) {
-            std::ifstream config_file {config_path};
+        std::ifstream config_file {config_path};
+        if (config_file) {
+            std::cerr << "screensaver: reading config file " << config_path << '\n';
             nlohmann::json j;
             config_file >> j;
             main_saver->config(j);