diff --git a/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/ConfigFileProvider.cs b/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/ConfigFileProvider.cs
index fa694700d..d571bb8b8 100644
--- a/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/ConfigFileProvider.cs
+++ b/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/ConfigFileProvider.cs
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Core.Configuration
                 {
                     EnsureDefaultConfigFile();
 
-                    var xDoc = XDocument.Load(_configFile);
+                    var xDoc = LoadConfigFile();
                     var config = xDoc.Descendants(CONFIG_ELEMENT_NAME).Single();
 
                     var parentContainer = config;
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Core.Configuration
         {
             EnsureDefaultConfigFile();
 
-            var xDoc = XDocument.Load(_configFile);
+            var xDoc = LoadConfigFile();
             var config = xDoc.Descendants(CONFIG_ELEMENT_NAME).Single();
 
             var parentContainer = config;
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Core.Configuration
         {
             EnsureDefaultConfigFile();
 
-            var xDoc = XDocument.Load(_configFile);
+            var xDoc = LoadConfigFile();
             var config = xDoc.Descendants(CONFIG_ELEMENT_NAME).Single();
 
             var type = GetType();
@@ -222,6 +222,19 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Core.Configuration
             xDoc.Save(_configFile);
         }
 
+        private XDocument LoadConfigFile()
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                return XDocument.Load(_configFile);
+            }
+
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                throw new InvalidConfigFileException("config.xml is invalid, please see the wiki for steps to resolve this issue.", ex);
+            }
+        }
+
         public void HandleAsync(ApplicationStartedEvent message)
         {
             DeleteOldValues();
diff --git a/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/InvalidConfigFileException.cs b/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/InvalidConfigFileException.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3b3dbc5ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/InvalidConfigFileException.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+using NzbDrone.Common.Exceptions;
+
+namespace NzbDrone.Core.Configuration
+{
+    public class InvalidConfigFileException : Exception
+    {
+        public InvalidConfigFileException(string message, Exception innerException) : base(message, innerException)
+        {
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/NzbDrone.Core/NzbDrone.Core.csproj b/NzbDrone.Core/NzbDrone.Core.csproj
index 8fa7bbee6..409494e92 100644
--- a/NzbDrone.Core/NzbDrone.Core.csproj
+++ b/NzbDrone.Core/NzbDrone.Core.csproj
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Configuration\Events\ConfigFileSavedEvent.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Configuration\Events\ConfigSavedEvent.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Configuration\IConfigService.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Configuration\InvalidConfigFileException.cs" />
     <Compile Include="DataAugmentation\DailySeries\DailySeriesDataProxy.cs" />
     <Compile Include="DataAugmentation\DailySeries\DailySeriesService.cs" />
     <Compile Include="DataAugmentation\Scene\SceneMapping.cs" />