diff --git a/lib/include/tw_config.sh b/lib/include/tw_config.sh
index b0d08f3..463505e 100644
--- a/lib/include/tw_config.sh
+++ b/lib/include/tw_config.sh
@@ -283,6 +283,10 @@ function get_tw_config_value() {
 	printf '%s' "$value" | sed -e 's/[[:space:]]*$//'
 }
 
+function compile_tw_config() {
+	twcfg.include_exec "autoexec.cfg" > lib/tmp/compiled.cfg
+}
+
 function get_tw_config() {
 	if [ "$#" != "2" ]
 	then
@@ -304,7 +308,7 @@ function get_tw_config() {
 	fi
 	mkdir -p lib/tmp
 	twcfg_line=0
-	twcfg.include_exec "autoexec.cfg" > lib/tmp/compiled.cfg
+	compile_tw_config
 	found_key="$(grep "^$config_key " lib/tmp/compiled.cfg | tail -n1 | cut -d' ' -f2- | xargs)"
 	if [ "$found_key" == "" ]
 	then
diff --git a/lib/lib.sh b/lib/lib.sh
index e3ec93a..664bd21 100644
--- a/lib/lib.sh
+++ b/lib/lib.sh
@@ -277,7 +277,16 @@ function check_warnings() {
 			wrn ""
 		fi
 	fi
-	port="$(wc -l < <(grep '^sv_port ' lib/tmp/compiled.cfg))"
+	# make sure the grep does not fail to open the non existent file
+	if [ ! -f lib/tmp/compiled.cfg ]
+	then
+		compile_tw_config
+	fi
+	if ! port="$(wc -l < <(grep '^sv_port ' lib/tmp/compiled.cfg))"
+	then
+		wrn "WARNING: failed to count ports in compiled.cfg"
+		wrn "         file should be at $PWD/lib/tmp/compiled.cfg"
+	fi
 	if [ "$port" != "" ] && [ "$port" -gt "1" ]
 	then
 		wrn "WARNING: found sv_port $port times in your config"