--- a/src/dnsbl.cpp	Mon Aug 01 19:32:03 2005 -0700
+++ b/src/dnsbl.cpp	Sun Aug 07 11:26:37 2005 -0700
@@ -1007,6 +1007,7 @@
         }
         if (reload) {
             CONFIG *newc = new_conf();
+			if (newc) {
             // replace the global config pointer
             pthread_mutex_lock(&config_mutex);
                 CONFIG *old = config;
@@ -1014,6 +1015,14 @@
             pthread_mutex_unlock(&config_mutex);
             if (old) old_configs.insert(old);
         }
+			else {
+				// failed to load new config
+				my_syslog("failed to load new configuration");
+				system("echo 'failed to load new dnsbl configuration from /etc/dnsbl' | mail -s 'error in /etc/dnsbl configuration' root");
+				// update the load time on the current config to prevent complaining every 3 minutes
+				dc.load_time = time(NULL);
+			}
+		}
         // now look for old configs with zero ref counts
         for (configp_set::iterator i=old_configs.begin(); i!=old_configs.end(); ) {
             CONFIG *old = *i;
@@ -1266,6 +1275,13 @@
         }
     }
 
+	// load the initial config
+	config = new_conf();
+	if (!config) {
+		my_syslog("failed to load initial configuration, quitting");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
     // fork off the resolver listener process
     pid_t child = fork();
     if (child < 0) {
@@ -1336,9 +1352,6 @@
         sleep(2);   // allow child to get started
     }
 
-    // load the initial config
-    config = new_conf();
-
     // only create threads after the fork() in daemon
     pthread_t tid;
     if (pthread_create(&tid, 0, config_loader, 0))