diff --git a/src/bitcoind.cpp b/src/bitcoind.cpp
index 2ec14ccc6..8634be211 100644
--- a/src/bitcoind.cpp
+++ b/src/bitcoind.cpp
@@ -97,6 +97,24 @@ bool AppInit(int argc, char* argv[])
         try
         {
             ReadConfigFile(mapArgs, mapMultiArgs);
+        } catch (const missing_zcash_conf& e) {
+            fprintf(stderr,
+                (_("Before starting zcashd, you need to create a configuration file:\n"
+                   "%s\n"
+                   "It can be completely empty! That indicates you are happy with the default\n"
+                   "configuration of zcashd. But requiring a configuration file to start ensures\n"
+                   "that zcashd won't accidentally compromise your privacy if there was a default\n"
+                   "option you needed to change.\n"
+                   "\n"
+                   "You can look at the example configuration file for suggestions of default\n"
+                   "options that you may want to change. It should be in one of these locations,\n"
+                   "depending on how you installed Zcash:\n") +
+                 _("- Source code:  %s\n"
+                   "- .deb package: %s\n")).c_str(),
+                GetConfigFile().string().c_str(),
+                "contrib/DEBIAN/examples/zcash.conf",
+                "/usr/share/doc/zcash/examples/zcash.conf");
+            return false;
         } catch (const std::exception& e) {
             fprintf(stderr,"Error reading configuration file: %s\n", e.what());
             return false;
diff --git a/src/util.cpp b/src/util.cpp
index b667acc5e..8fbdfc65b 100644
--- a/src/util.cpp
+++ b/src/util.cpp
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ void ReadConfigFile(map<string, string>& mapSettingsRet,
 {
     boost::filesystem::ifstream streamConfig(GetConfigFile());
     if (!streamConfig.good())
-        return; // No zcash.conf file is OK
+        throw missing_zcash_conf();
 
     set<string> setOptions;
     setOptions.insert("*");
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
index ef3a347fa..b7d255e4d 100644
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -127,6 +127,10 @@ boost::filesystem::path GetConfigFile();
 boost::filesystem::path GetPidFile();
 void CreatePidFile(const boost::filesystem::path &path, pid_t pid);
 #endif
+class missing_zcash_conf : public std::runtime_error {
+public:
+    missing_zcash_conf() : std::runtime_error("Missing zcash.conf") { }
+};
 void ReadConfigFile(std::map<std::string, std::string>& mapSettingsRet, std::map<std::string, std::vector<std::string> >& mapMultiSettingsRet);
 #ifdef WIN32
 boost::filesystem::path GetSpecialFolderPath(int nFolder, bool fCreate = true);