diff --git a/src/mappings.cpp b/src/mappings.cpp
index 6795b23..56235f5 100644
--- a/src/mappings.cpp
+++ b/src/mappings.cpp
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 #include <boost/algorithm/string/split.hpp>
 #include <boost/filesystem.hpp>
 #include <boost/filesystem/directory.hpp>
+#include <boost/filesystem/exception.hpp>
 #include <boost/log/trivial.hpp>
+#include <boost/system/detail/errc.hpp>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <optional>
 #include <ostream>
@@ -21,22 +23,30 @@ Mappings Mappings::load() {
 
   // load mappings
   fs::directory_iterator end_itr;
-  for (fs::directory_iterator itr("mappings"); itr != end_itr; ++itr) {
-    if (fs::is_directory(itr->status()) ||
-        !boost::algorithm::ends_with(itr->path().string(), ".csv"))
-      continue;
-
-    csv::CsvReader csv(itr->path().string());
-
-    std::vector<std::string> l;
-    while (csv >> l) {
-      if (l.size() < 2) {
-        BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(warning) << "found invalid mapping";
+  try {
+    for (fs::directory_iterator itr("mappings"); itr != end_itr; ++itr) {
+      if (fs::is_directory(itr->status()) ||
+          !boost::algorithm::ends_with(itr->path().string(), ".csv"))
         continue;
+
+      csv::CsvReader csv(itr->path().string());
+
+      std::vector<std::string> l;
+      while (csv >> l) {
+        if (l.size() < 2) {
+          BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(warning) << "found invalid mapping";
+          continue;
+        }
+        mappings[l[0]] = {l[0], l[1],
+                          l.size() >= 4 ? std::optional(l[3]) : std::nullopt};
       }
-      mappings[l[0]] = {l[0], l[1],
-                        l.size() >= 4 ? std::optional(l[3]) : std::nullopt};
     }
+  } catch (boost::filesystem::filesystem_error &e) {
+    if (e.code() == boost::system::errc::no_such_file_or_directory) {
+      throw std::runtime_error(
+          std::string("The mappings directory is missing!\n") + e.what());
+    }
+    throw;
   }
 
   if (fs::is_regular_file("renames.csv")) {
@@ -51,6 +61,8 @@ Mappings Mappings::load() {
 
       renames[l[0]] = l[1];
     }
+  } else {
+    BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(warning) << "no renames found, skipping";
   }
 
   BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(info) << "loaded " << mappings.size() << " mappings and "