diff --git a/expconfig.py b/expconfig.py
index 87ffed38cf7a6baf78b34a04dfef0ca19aa932f6..c4b8b30573a24f656a593593d5789b82ef678f7b 100644
--- a/expconfig.py
+++ b/expconfig.py
@@ -499,9 +499,10 @@ class ExpConfig(ConfigObj):
 
         lib_config_name = get_config_name(ExpConfig.exp_lib_dir,
                                           ExpConfig.default_name+'.config')
-        pre_config.merge(ConfigObj(lib_config_name))
-        split_shared_sections(pre_config)
-        register_version(pre_config, config_versions)
+        if os.path.exists(lib_config_name):
+            pre_config.merge(ConfigObj(lib_config_name))
+            split_shared_sections(pre_config)
+            register_version(pre_config, config_versions)
 
         if os.path.exists(setup_config_name):
             pre_config.merge(ConfigObj(setup_config_name))