diff --git a/plugin/setup/setup.go b/plugin/setup/setup.go
index 258eb2b6..a06fd50a 100644
--- a/plugin/setup/setup.go
+++ b/plugin/setup/setup.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	uri2 "net/url"
 	"path"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"github.com/valyala/fasttemplate"
 	log "github.com/cihub/seelog"
@@ -356,6 +357,11 @@ func (module *Module) initialize(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, ps http
 		dslTplFile:=path.Join(global.Env().GetConfigDir(),"initialization.tpl")
 		dslFile:=path.Join(global.Env().GetConfigDir(),"initialization.dsl")
 
+		if !util.FileExists(dslTplFile){
+			log.Error(filepath.Abs(dslTplFile))
+			panic("template file for setup was missing")
+		}
+
 		var dsl []byte
 		dsl,err=util.FileGetContent(dslTplFile)
 		if err!=nil{