diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 25a014d8..59291234 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 powerline-shell.py
 *.py[co]
+config.py
diff --git a/config.py b/config.py.dist
similarity index 100%
rename from config.py
rename to config.py.dist
diff --git a/install.py b/install.py
index 70f96f39..a152877d 100755
--- a/install.py
+++ b/install.py
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ def load_source(srcfile):
         return ''
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    try:
+        with open('config.py'): pass
+    except IOError:
+        print 'Please copy config.py.dist to config.py and retry.'
+        exit(1)
     source = load_source(TEMPLATE_FILE)
     source += load_source(os.path.join(THEMES_DIR, config.THEME + '.py'))
     for segment in config.SEGMENTS: