diff --git a/src/mibew/libs/common/locale.php b/src/mibew/libs/common/locale.php
index a2b194b7..ea94fc83 100644
--- a/src/mibew/libs/common/locale.php
+++ b/src/mibew/libs/common/locale.php
@@ -202,6 +202,9 @@ function read_locale_file($path) {
 	$messages = array();
 
 	$fp = fopen($path, "r");
+	if ($fp === FALSE) {
+		die("unable to read locale file $path");
+	}
 	while (!feof($fp)) {
 		$line = fgets($fp, 4096);
 		// Try to get key and value from locale file line
diff --git a/src/mibew/operator/translate.php b/src/mibew/operator/translate.php
index 781f0601..70a991fb 100644
--- a/src/mibew/operator/translate.php
+++ b/src/mibew/operator/translate.php
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ function save_message($locale, $key, $value)
 	$added = false;
 	$current_encoding = $mibew_encoding;
 	$fp = fopen(dirname(dirname(__FILE__))."/locales/$locale/properties", "r");
+	if ($fp === FALSE) {
+		die("unable to open properties for locale $locale");
+	}
 	while (!feof($fp)) {
 		$line = fgets($fp, 4096);
 		$keyval = preg_split("/=/", $line, 2);