diff --git a/qutebrowser/utils/jinja.py b/qutebrowser/utils/jinja.py
index e60032ff4..f2dbbfe5f 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/utils/jinja.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/utils/jinja.py
@@ -31,6 +31,49 @@ from qutebrowser.utils import utils, urlutils, log
 
 from PyQt5.QtCore import QUrl
 
+html_fallback = '''<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+    <head>
+        <meta charset="utf-8">
+        <title>{{ title }}</title>
+        {% if icon %}
+            <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="{{ icon }}">
+        {% endif %}
+        <style type="text/css">
+            {% block style %}
+            body {
+                background-color: #fff;
+                margin: 0;
+                padding: 0;
+            }
+            {% endblock %}
+        </style>
+    </head>
+    <body>
+        <div id="error-container">
+	<table>
+		<tr>
+			<td style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top;">
+				<img style="width: 100%; display: block; max-width: 256px;" src="{{ data_url("img/broken_qutebrowser_logo.png") }}" />
+			</td>
+			<td style="padding-left: 40px;">
+        <p><span style="font-size:120%;color:red">The error.html template could not be found!<br>Please check your qutebrowser installation</span><br>'''
+html_fallback2 = '''</p>
+				<h1>Unable to load page</h1>
+				Error while opening {{ url }}: <br>
+				<p id="error-message-text" style="color: #a31a1a;">{{ error }}</p><br><br>
+
+				<form name="bl">
+					<input type="button" value="Try again" onclick="javascript:location.reload();" />
+				</form>
+
+			</td>
+		</tr>
+	</table>
+</div>
+    </body>
+</html>
+'''
 
 class Loader(jinja2.BaseLoader):
 
@@ -47,8 +90,8 @@ class Loader(jinja2.BaseLoader):
         path = os.path.join(self._subdir, template)
         try:
             source = utils.read_file(path)
-        except OSError:
-            raise jinja2.TemplateNotFound(template)
+        except OSError as e:
+            source = html_fallback + str(e) + html_fallback2;
         # Currently we don't implement auto-reloading, so we always return True
         # for up-to-date.
         return source, path, lambda: True
