diff --git a/color.go b/color.go
index 189fe20..0c54650 100644
--- a/color.go
+++ b/color.go
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ func stringToRGB(rgbString string) (*RGB, error) {
 func loadColorsFromFile(filepath string) error {
 	data, err := os.ReadFile(filepath)
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+		return err
 	}
 	// Read color config file into a MapSlice
 	tempMapSlice := yaml.MapSlice{}
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 5d5cad9..993026c 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ func main() {
 	// Check if config exists. If it doesn't, generate the config files.
 	userHomeDir, err := os.UserHomeDir() // Get current user's home directory, to construct config path
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+		printErrAndExit("Unable to retrieve user home directory")
 	}
 	configPath := filepath.Join(userHomeDir + "/.config/ccat/")
 	if _, err := os.Stat(configPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func main() {
 	// the program.
 	finfo, err := os.Stat(fileName)
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+		printErrAndExit("Unable to read file")
 	}
 	if finfo.Size() == 0 {
 		os.Exit(0)