diff --git a/lib/chain_manager.js b/lib/chain_manager.js
index 157d6423..9dc8e5c3 100644
--- a/lib/chain_manager.js
+++ b/lib/chain_manager.js
@@ -3,17 +3,18 @@ var web3 = require('web3');
 var sha3_256 = require('js-sha3').sha3_256;
 
 ChainManager = function() {
+  this.chainManagerConfig = {};
   this.currentChain = {};
   this.file = "";
 }
 
 ChainManager.prototype.loadConfigFile = function(filename) {
+  this.file = filename;
   try {
     var obj = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(filename));
-    this.file = filename;
     this.chainManagerConfig = obj;
   } catch (e) {
-    throw new Error("error reading " + filename);
+    console.warn("error reading " + filename + "; defaulting to empty set");
   }
   return this;
 };
@@ -51,4 +52,3 @@ ChainManager.prototype.save = function() {
 }
 
 module.exports = ChainManager;
-