diff --git a/cmd/kubectx/fzf.go b/cmd/kubectx/fzf.go
index bd4f462..6943a02 100644
--- a/cmd/kubectx/fzf.go
+++ b/cmd/kubectx/fzf.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mattn/go-isatty"
 
 	"github.com/ahmetb/kubectx/internal/env"
+	"github.com/ahmetb/kubectx/internal/kubeconfig"
 	"github.com/ahmetb/kubectx/internal/printer"
 )
 
@@ -21,6 +22,17 @@ type InteractiveSwitchOp struct {
 }
 
 func (op InteractiveSwitchOp) Run(_, stderr io.Writer) error {
+	// parse kubeconfig just to see if it can be loaded
+	kc := new(kubeconfig.Kubeconfig).WithLoader(defaultLoader)
+	if err := kc.Parse(); err != nil {
+		if isENOENT(err) {
+			printer.Warning(stderr, "kubeconfig file not found")
+			return nil
+		}
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "kubeconfig error")
+	}
+	kc.Close()
+
 	cmd := exec.Command("fzf", "--ansi", "--no-preview")
 	var out bytes.Buffer
 	cmd.Stdin = os.Stdin
diff --git a/cmd/kubectx/kubeconfig.go b/cmd/kubectx/kubeconfig.go
index beac789..d3d5e05 100644
--- a/cmd/kubectx/kubeconfig.go
+++ b/cmd/kubectx/kubeconfig.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func (*StandardKubeconfigLoader) Load() (kubeconfig.ReadWriteResetCloser, error)
 	f, err := os.OpenFile(cfgPath, os.O_RDWR, 0)
 	if err != nil {
 		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
-			return nil, errors.Errorf("kubeconfig file not found at %s", cfgPath)
+			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "kubeconfig file not found")
 		}
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to open file")
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/kubectx/kubeconfig_test.go b/cmd/kubectx/kubeconfig_test.go
index 1630b32..cc396bd 100644
--- a/cmd/kubectx/kubeconfig_test.go
+++ b/cmd/kubectx/kubeconfig_test.go
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
-)
 
+	"github.com/ahmetb/kubectx/internal/kubeconfig"
+)
 
 func withTestVar(key, value string) func() {
 	// TODO(ahmetb) this method is currently duplicated
@@ -131,6 +132,18 @@ func Test_kubeconfigPath_envOvverideDoesNotSupportPathSeparator(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestStandardKubeconfigLoader_returnsNotFoundErr(t *testing.T) {
+	defer withTestVar("KUBECONFIG", "foo")()
+	kc := new(kubeconfig.Kubeconfig).WithLoader(defaultLoader)
+	err := kc.Parse()
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected err")
+	}
+	if !isENOENT(err) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected ENOENT error; got=%v", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func testfile(t *testing.T, contents string) (path string, cleanup func()) {
 	t.Helper()
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubectx/list.go b/cmd/kubectx/list.go
index e1a9530..e39d063 100644
--- a/cmd/kubectx/list.go
+++ b/cmd/kubectx/list.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"os"
 
 	"facette.io/natsort"
 	"github.com/fatih/color"
@@ -15,10 +16,14 @@ import (
 // ListOp describes listing contexts.
 type ListOp struct{}
 
-func (_ ListOp) Run(stdout, _ io.Writer) error {
+func (_ ListOp) Run(stdout, stderr io.Writer) error {
 	kc := new(kubeconfig.Kubeconfig).WithLoader(defaultLoader)
 	defer kc.Close()
 	if err := kc.Parse(); err != nil {
+		if isENOENT(err) {
+			printer.Warning(stderr, "kubeconfig file not found")
+			return nil
+		}
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "kubeconfig error")
 	}
 
@@ -45,3 +50,14 @@ func (_ ListOp) Run(stdout, _ io.Writer) error {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// isENOENT determines if the underlying error is os.IsNotExist. Right now
+// errors from github.com/pkg/errors doesn't work with os.IsNotExist.
+func isENOENT(err error) bool {
+	for e := err; e != nil; e = errors.Unwrap(e) {
+		if os.IsNotExist(e) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 808bf9d..0d7c924 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/fatih/color v1.9.0
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.4.0
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.12
-	github.com/mattn/go-tty v0.0.3 // indirect
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c
 )
diff --git a/test/kubectx.bats b/test/kubectx.bats
index 220f510..bacb82a 100644
--- a/test/kubectx.bats
+++ b/test/kubectx.bats
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bats
 
-COMMAND="$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/../kubectx"
+COMMAND="${COMMAND:-$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/../kubectx}"
 
 load common
 
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ load common
   run ${COMMAND}
   echo "$output"
   [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
-  [[ "$output" = "" ]]
+  [[ "$output" = "warning: kubeconfig file not found" ]]
 }
 
 @test "get one context and list contexts" {
diff --git a/test/kubens.bats b/test/kubens.bats
index a439d86..6bbcb09 100644
--- a/test/kubens.bats
+++ b/test/kubens.bats
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bats
 
-COMMAND="${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/../kubens"
+COMMAND="${COMMAND:-$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/../kubens}"
 export KUBECTL="$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/../test/mock-kubectl"
 
 load common