diff --git a/boxmox/experiment.py b/boxmox/experiment.py
index c4cc1ff4abb4466e2f0767addc31c4fc6fd2136d..8213d95fe2e4ff08b1f1865c0e44834cbb28be1a 100644
--- a/boxmox/experiment.py
+++ b/boxmox/experiment.py
@@ -38,7 +38,11 @@ examples = { x: ExampleData(os.path.join(examplesPath, x)) for x in os.listdir(e
 
 compiledMechsPath=os.path.join(os.environ['KPP_HOME'], "boxmox", "compiled_mechs")
 
-compiledMechs = [ x for x in os.listdir(compiledMechsPath) if (os.path.isdir( os.path.join(compiledMechsPath, x) )) and ("_adjoint" not in x) ]
+compiledMechs = []
+try:
+    compiledMechs = [ x for x in os.listdir(compiledMechsPath) if (os.path.isdir( os.path.join(compiledMechsPath, x) )) and ("_adjoint" not in x) ]
+except:
+    print("No compile_mechs directory found")
 
 class Namelist:
     '''