diff --git a/bitbake/bin/toaster b/bitbake/bin/toaster
index ff3123cd4a..bfedfd3ea3 100755
--- a/bitbake/bin/toaster
+++ b/bitbake/bin/toaster
@@ -174,7 +174,11 @@ fi
 # toasterconf.json
 if [ "$TOASTER_CONF" == "" ]; then
     BIN_DIR=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")
-    export TOASTER_CONF="$BIN_DIR/../../meta-yocto/conf/toasterconf.json"
+    export TOASTER_CONF="$BIN_DIR/../../meta-yocto/conf/toasterconf.json"    
+fi
+if [ ! -f $TOASTER_CONF ]; then
+    echo "$TOASTER_CONF configuration file not found, exiting..."
+    exit -1
 fi
 # this defines the dir toaster will use for
 # 1) clones of layers (in _toaster_clones )