diff --git a/gramps/gui/widgets/grampletbar.py b/gramps/gui/widgets/grampletbar.py
index c01ae8757..76df4e661 100644
--- a/gramps/gui/widgets/grampletbar.py
+++ b/gramps/gui/widgets/grampletbar.py
@@ -150,7 +150,10 @@ class GrampletBar(Gtk.Notebook):
         filename = self.configfile
         if filename and os.path.exists(filename):
             cp = configparser.ConfigParser()
-            cp.read(filename)
+            try:
+                cp.read(filename)
+            except:
+                pass
             for sec in cp.sections():
                 if sec == "Bar Options":
                     if "visible" in cp.options(sec):