diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/conf/YamlConfig.java b/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/conf/YamlConfig.java
index 8d79b5ab..a2b96815 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/conf/YamlConfig.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/conf/YamlConfig.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import net.md_5.bungee.api.config.ServerInfo;
 import net.md_5.bungee.util.CaseInsensitiveMap;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.DumperOptions;
 import org.yaml.snakeyaml.Yaml;
+import org.yaml.snakeyaml.error.YAMLException;
 
 public class YamlConfig implements ConfigurationAdapter
 {
@@ -60,7 +61,13 @@ public class YamlConfig implements ConfigurationAdapter
 
             try ( InputStream is = new FileInputStream( file ) )
             {
-                config = (Map) yaml.load( is );
+                try
+                {
+                    config = (Map) yaml.load( is );
+                } catch ( YAMLException ex )
+                {
+                    throw new RuntimeException( "Invalid configuration encountered - this is a configuration error and NOT a bug! Please attempt to fix the error or see https://www.spigotmc.org/ for help.", ex );
+                }
             }
 
             if ( config == null )