diff --git a/PowerEditor/src/MISC/Common/Common.cpp b/PowerEditor/src/MISC/Common/Common.cpp
index 789fbea99..a6dbefc21 100644
--- a/PowerEditor/src/MISC/Common/Common.cpp
+++ b/PowerEditor/src/MISC/Common/Common.cpp
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ std::string getFileContent(const TCHAR *file2read)
 	char data[blockSize];
 	std::string wholeFileContent = "";
 	FILE *fp = _wfopen(file2read, TEXT("rb"));
+    if (!fp)
+        return "";
 
 	size_t lenFile = 0;
 	do