diff --git a/base/VulkanTexture.hpp b/base/VulkanTexture.hpp
index a4300340..87a44aaf 100644
--- a/base/VulkanTexture.hpp
+++ b/base/VulkanTexture.hpp
@@ -104,6 +104,9 @@ namespace vks
 
 			free(textureData);
 #else
+			if (!vks::tools::fileExists(filename)) {
+				vks::tools::exitFatal("Could not load texture from " + filename, "File not found");
+			}
 			gli::texture2d tex2D(gli::load(filename.c_str()));
 #endif		
 			assert(!tex2D.empty());
@@ -582,9 +585,11 @@ namespace vks
 
 			free(textureData);
 #else
+			if (!vks::tools::fileExists(filename)) {
+				vks::tools::exitFatal("Could not load texture from " + filename, "File not found");
+			}
 			gli::texture2d_array tex2DArray(gli::load(filename));
 #endif	
-
 			assert(!tex2DArray.empty());
 
 			this->device = device;
@@ -791,6 +796,9 @@ namespace vks
 
 			free(textureData);
 #else
+			if (!vks::tools::fileExists(filename)) {
+				vks::tools::exitFatal("Could not load texture from " + filename, "File not found");
+			}
 			gli::texture_cube texCube(gli::load(filename));
 #endif	
 			assert(!texCube.empty());
diff --git a/base/VulkanTools.cpp b/base/VulkanTools.cpp
index 3f314d6d..994527da 100644
--- a/base/VulkanTools.cpp
+++ b/base/VulkanTools.cpp
@@ -375,5 +375,11 @@ namespace vks
 
 			return shaderModule;
 		}
+
+		bool fileExists(const std::string &filename)
+		{
+			std::ifstream f(filename.c_str());
+			return !f.fail();
+		}
 	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/base/VulkanTools.h b/base/VulkanTools.h
index 7860b0e1..bd0f31dd 100644
--- a/base/VulkanTools.h
+++ b/base/VulkanTools.h
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <stdexcept>
+#include <fstream>
 #if defined(_WIN32)
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
@@ -123,5 +124,8 @@ namespace vks
 		// Load a GLSL shader (text)
 		// Note: GLSL support requires vendor-specific extensions to be enabled and is not a core-feature of Vulkan
 		VkShaderModule loadShaderGLSL(const char *fileName, VkDevice device, VkShaderStageFlagBits stage);
+
+		/** @brief Checks if a file exists */
+		bool fileExists(const std::string &filename);
 	}
 }