diff --git a/common/kiway.cpp b/common/kiway.cpp
index c5e432ca9b..8e5966506c 100644
--- a/common/kiway.cpp
+++ b/common/kiway.cpp
@@ -183,6 +183,24 @@ KIFACE*  KIWAY::KiFACE( FACE_T aFaceId, bool doLoad )
 
         // In any of the failure cases above, dso.Unload() should be called here
         // by dso destructor.
+        // However:
+
+        // There is a file installation bug. We only look for KIFACE_I's which we know
+        // to exist, and we did not find one.  If we do not find one, this is an
+        // installation bug.
+
+        wxString msg = wxString::Format( wxT(
+            "Fatal Installation Bug\nmissing file:\n'%s'\n\nargv[0]:\n'%s'" ),
+            GetChars( dname ),
+            GetChars( wxStandardPaths::Get().GetExecutablePath() )
+            );
+
+        // This is a fatal error, one from which we cannot recover, nor do we want
+        // to protect against in client code which would require numerous noisy
+        // tests in numerous places.  So we inform the user that the installation
+        // is bad.  This exception will likely not get caught until way up in
+        // PGM_BASE or a derivative, at which point the process will exit gracefully.
+        THROW_IO_ERROR( msg );
     }
 
     return NULL;
diff --git a/kicad/kicad.cpp b/kicad/kicad.cpp
index ac0a734dc1..44e9488e56 100644
--- a/kicad/kicad.cpp
+++ b/kicad/kicad.cpp
@@ -280,6 +280,30 @@ struct APP_KICAD : public wxApp
         return wxApp::OnExit();
     }
 
+    int OnRun()             // overload wxApp virtual
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            return wxApp::OnRun();
+        }
+        catch( const std::exception& e )
+        {
+            wxLogError( wxT( "Unhandled exception class: %s  what: %s" ),
+                GetChars( FROM_UTF8( typeid(e).name() )),
+                GetChars( FROM_UTF8( e.what() ) ) );;
+        }
+        catch( const IO_ERROR& ioe )
+        {
+            wxLogError( GetChars( ioe.errorText ) );
+        }
+        catch(...)
+        {
+            wxLogError( wxT( "Unhandled exception of unknown type" ) );
+        }
+
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Function MacOpenFile
      * is specific to MacOSX (not used under Linux or Windows).