diff --git a/boot/boot.js b/boot/boot.js
index a9fb91b74..58c06b566 100644
--- a/boot/boot.js
+++ b/boot/boot.js
@@ -2080,7 +2080,11 @@ $tw.loadPluginFolder = function(filepath,excludeRegExp) {
 			console.log("Warning: missing plugin.info file in " + filepath);
 			return null;
 		}
-		var pluginInfo = $tw.utils.parseJSONSafe(fs.readFileSync(infoPath,"utf8"));
+		var pluginInfo = $tw.utils.parseJSONSafe(fs.readFileSync(infoPath,"utf8"),function() {return null;});
+		if(!pluginInfo) {
+			console.log("warning: invalid JSON in plugin.info file at " + infoPath);
+			pluginInfo = {};
+		}
 		// Read the plugin files
 		var pluginFiles = $tw.loadTiddlersFromPath(filepath,excludeRegExp);
 		// Save the plugin tiddlers into the plugin info
@@ -2197,7 +2201,11 @@ $tw.loadWikiTiddlers = function(wikiPath,options) {
 		pluginFields;
 	// Bail if we don't have a wiki info file
 	if(fs.existsSync(wikiInfoPath)) {
-		wikiInfo = $tw.utils.parseJSONSafe(fs.readFileSync(wikiInfoPath,"utf8"));
+		wikiInfo = $tw.utils.parseJSONSafe(fs.readFileSync(wikiInfoPath,"utf8"),function() {return null;});
+		if(!wikiInfo) {
+			console.log("warning: invalid JSON in tiddlywiki.info file at " + wikiInfoPath);
+			wikiInfo = {};
+		}
 	} else {
 		return null;
 	}