diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0f7cd1b4..02b3e293 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ Changelog
 #### 1.1.0
 
 * [New] JSON export exports tags as well.
+* [Improved] Nicer error message when there is a syntactical error in your config file.
+
 #### 1.0.5
 
 * [Improved] Backwards compatibility with `parsedatetime` 0.8.7
diff --git a/jrnl/jrnl.py b/jrnl/jrnl.py
index 5b705d17..6f071a47 100755
--- a/jrnl/jrnl.py
+++ b/jrnl/jrnl.py
@@ -150,7 +150,12 @@ def cli():
         config = install.install_jrnl(CONFIG_PATH)
     else:
         with open(CONFIG_PATH) as f:
-            config = json.load(f)
+            try:
+                config = json.load(f)
+            except ValueError as e:
+                print("[There seems to be something wrong with your jrnl config at {}: {}]".format(CONFIG_PATH, e.message))
+                print("[Entry was NOT added to your journal]")
+                sys.exit(-1)
         install.update_config(config, config_path=CONFIG_PATH)
 
     original_config = config.copy()