diff --git a/src/classes/PStartupHandler.cpp b/src/classes/PStartupHandler.cpp
index c0f0b06b..a70edfb1 100644
--- a/src/classes/PStartupHandler.cpp
+++ b/src/classes/PStartupHandler.cpp
@@ -74,9 +74,9 @@ PStartupHandler::PStartupHandler()
       strncpy(musrpath, pmusrpath, sizeof(musrpath));
     }
     sprintf(startup_path_name, "%s/musrfit_startup.xml", musrpath);
+    fStartupFilePath = TString(startup_path_name);
     if (StartupFileExists(startup_path_name)) {
       fStartupFileFound = true;
-      fStartupFilePath = TString(startup_path_name);
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/musrfit.cpp b/src/musrfit.cpp
index e479b82c..31f705dc 100644
--- a/src/musrfit.cpp
+++ b/src/musrfit.cpp
@@ -406,13 +406,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
   char startup_path_name[128];
   TSAXParser *saxParser = new TSAXParser();
   PStartupHandler *startupHandler = new PStartupHandler();
-  strcpy(startup_path_name, startupHandler->GetStartupFilePath().Data());
-  saxParser->ConnectToHandler("PStartupHandler", startupHandler);
-  status = saxParser->ParseFile(startup_path_name);
-  // check for parse errors
-  if (status) { // error
-    cout << endl << "**WARNING** reading/parsing musrfit_startup.xml.";
-    cout << endl;
+  if (!startupHandler->StartupFileFound()) {
+    cerr << endl << "**WARNING** couldn't find " << startupHandler->GetStartupFilePath().Data();
+    cerr << endl;
     // clean up
     if (saxParser) {
       delete saxParser;
@@ -422,6 +418,24 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       delete startupHandler;
       startupHandler = 0;
     }
+  } else {
+    strcpy(startup_path_name, startupHandler->GetStartupFilePath().Data());
+    saxParser->ConnectToHandler("PStartupHandler", startupHandler);
+    status = saxParser->ParseFile(startup_path_name);
+    // check for parse errors
+    if (status) { // error
+      cerr << endl << "**WARNING** reading/parsing musrfit_startup.xml.";
+      cerr << endl;
+      // clean up
+      if (saxParser) {
+        delete saxParser;
+        saxParser = 0;
+      }
+      if (startupHandler) {
+        delete startupHandler;
+        startupHandler = 0;
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   // read msr-file
diff --git a/src/musrt0.cpp b/src/musrt0.cpp
index 259d66b4..d202b51b 100644
--- a/src/musrt0.cpp
+++ b/src/musrt0.cpp
@@ -172,14 +172,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
   char startup_path_name[128];
   TSAXParser *saxParser = new TSAXParser();
   PStartupHandler *startupHandler = new PStartupHandler();
-  strcpy(startup_path_name, startupHandler->GetStartupFilePath().Data());
-  saxParser->ConnectToHandler("PStartupHandler", startupHandler);
-  status = saxParser->ParseFile(startup_path_name);
-  // check for parse errors
-  if (status) { // error
-    cout << endl << "**WARNING** reading/parsing musrfit_startup.xml failed.";
-    cout << endl;
-/*
+  if (!startupHandler->StartupFileFound()) {
+    cerr << endl << "**WARNING** couldn't find " << startupHandler->GetStartupFilePath().Data();
+    cerr << endl;
     // clean up
     if (saxParser) {
       delete saxParser;
@@ -189,9 +184,25 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
       delete startupHandler;
       startupHandler = 0;
     }
-*/
+  } else {
+    strcpy(startup_path_name, startupHandler->GetStartupFilePath().Data());
+    saxParser->ConnectToHandler("PStartupHandler", startupHandler);
+    status = saxParser->ParseFile(startup_path_name);
+    // check for parse errors
+    if (status) { // error
+      cerr << endl << "**WARNING** reading/parsing musrfit_startup.xml.";
+      cerr << endl;
+      // clean up
+      if (saxParser) {
+        delete saxParser;
+        saxParser = 0;
+      }
+      if (startupHandler) {
+        delete startupHandler;
+        startupHandler = 0;
+      }
+    }
   }
-  startupHandler->CheckLists();
 
   // read msr-file
   PMsrHandler *msrHandler = new PMsrHandler(filename);
diff --git a/src/musrview.cpp b/src/musrview.cpp
index 9358a93b..48b8f64c 100644
--- a/src/musrview.cpp
+++ b/src/musrview.cpp
@@ -145,24 +145,38 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
   char startup_path_name[128];
   TSAXParser *saxParser = new TSAXParser();
   PStartupHandler *startupHandler = new PStartupHandler();
-  saxParser->ConnectToHandler("PStartupHandler", startupHandler);
-  strcpy(startup_path_name, startupHandler->GetStartupFilePath().Data());
-  status = saxParser->ParseFile(startup_path_name);
-  // check for parse errors
-  if (status) { // error
-    cout << endl << "**WARNING** reading/parsing musrfit_startup.xml failed.";
-    cout << endl;
+  if (!startupHandler->StartupFileFound()) {
+    cerr << endl << "**WARNING** couldn't find " << startupHandler->GetStartupFilePath().Data();
+    cerr << endl;
     // clean up
-    if (startupHandler) {
-      delete startupHandler;
-      startupHandler = 0;
-    }
     if (saxParser) {
       delete saxParser;
       saxParser = 0;
     }
+    if (startupHandler) {
+      delete startupHandler;
+      startupHandler = 0;
+    }
+  } else {
+    strcpy(startup_path_name, startupHandler->GetStartupFilePath().Data());
+    saxParser->ConnectToHandler("PStartupHandler", startupHandler);
+    status = saxParser->ParseFile(startup_path_name);
+    // check for parse errors
+    if (status) { // error
+      cerr << endl << "**WARNING** reading/parsing musrfit_startup.xml.";
+      cerr << endl;
+      // clean up
+      if (saxParser) {
+        delete saxParser;
+        saxParser = 0;
+      }
+      if (startupHandler) {
+        delete startupHandler;
+        startupHandler = 0;
+      }
+    }
+    startupHandler->CheckLists();
   }
-  startupHandler->CheckLists();
 
   // read msr-file
   PMsrHandler *msrHandler = new PMsrHandler(fileName);