diff --git a/mythtv/files/mythorphans b/mythtv/files/mythorphans
index d4a0e0a..ce84c2c 100755
--- a/mythtv/files/mythorphans
+++ b/mythtv/files/mythorphans
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 # read in configs
+MYTHVERSION="`rpm -q --queryformat='%{VERSION}\n' mythtv-docs`" || \
+    echo "mythtv-docs package not installed" 1>&2 ; exit 1
 . /etc/mythtv/mysql.txt
-MYTHVERSION="`rpm -q --queryformat='%{VERSION}\n' mythtv-docs`"
 
 if [ -z "${LocalHostName}" ]; then
     LocalHostName=`hostname`