diff --git a/Sources/App/configure.swift b/Sources/App/configure.swift
index aec0d64..0112d72 100755
--- a/Sources/App/configure.swift
+++ b/Sources/App/configure.swift
@@ -98,17 +98,26 @@ private func createFileIfNeeded(at path: URL) throws {
     try Data().write(to: path)
 }
 
+private func readConfig(at path: URL) throws -> URL {
+    do {
+        let logPath = try String(contentsOf: path)
+            .trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces)
+        return URL(fileURLWithPath: logPath)
+    } catch {
+        log("Failed to read configuration file at \(path.path): \(error)")
+        throw error
+    }
+}
+
 // configures your application
 public func configure(_ app: Application) throws {
     // uncomment to serve files from /Public folder
     // app.middleware.use(FileMiddleware(publicDirectory: app.directory.publicDirectory))
     app.http.server.configuration.port = 9001
 
-    let configFile = URL(fileURLWithPath: app.directory.resourcesDirectory)
+    let configPath = URL(fileURLWithPath: app.directory.resourcesDirectory)
         .appendingPathComponent("paths.conf")
-    let logPath = try String(contentsOf: configFile)
-        .trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces)
-    let logFile = URL(fileURLWithPath: logPath)
+    let logFile = try readConfig(at: configPath)
     let listDirectory = URL(fileURLWithPath: app.directory.publicDirectory)
         .appendingPathComponent("lists")