diff --git a/bin/goldilocks.js b/bin/goldilocks.js
index dde578b..3a3403d 100755
--- a/bin/goldilocks.js
+++ b/bin/goldilocks.js
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ function readConfigAndRun(args) {
   } catch(e) {
     try {
       config = require('js-yaml').safeLoad(text);
+      // blank config file
+      if ('undefined' === typeof config) {
+        config = {};
+      }
     } catch(e) {
       throw new Error(
         "Could not load '" + filename + "' as JSON nor YAML"