diff --git a/src/skunkworks.c b/src/skunkworks.c
index d950a17..1037145 100644
--- a/src/skunkworks.c
+++ b/src/skunkworks.c
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ void sw_init(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 	if(!init) {
 		assert_types();
 		sw_skip_self = sw_skip_load(argv[0]);
+		if(!sw_skip_self) {
+			sw_error("no .skip attached to exe");
+		}
 		init = true;
 	}
 }