diff --git a/src/config.ini b/src/config.ini
index 4b694bf..b9c2d06 100644
--- a/src/config.ini
+++ b/src/config.ini
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ timeout = 4
 # Should be set automatically by an installer if your distro has one
 device_path = none
 
+# Print a warning if the the video device is not found
+warn_no_device = true
+
 # Scale down the video feed to this maximum height
 # Speeds up face recognition but can make it less precise
 max_height = 320
diff --git a/src/pam.py b/src/pam.py
index 08cccef..36af375 100644
--- a/src/pam.py
+++ b/src/pam.py
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@ def doAuth(pamh):
 		if any("closed" in open(f).read() for f in glob.glob("/proc/acpi/button/lid/*/state")):
 			return pamh.PAM_AUTHINFO_UNAVAIL
 
+	# Abort if the video device does not exist
+	if not os.path.exists(config.get("video", "device_path")):
+		if config.getboolean("video", "warn_no_device"):
+			print("Camera path is not configured correctly, please edit the 'device_path' config value.")
+		return pamh.PAM_AUTHINFO_UNAVAIL
+
 	# Set up syslog
 	syslog.openlog("[HOWDY]", 0, syslog.LOG_AUTH)