diff --git a/plugin/pkg/admission/imagepolicy/admission.go b/plugin/pkg/admission/imagepolicy/admission.go
index 2be89631e97..5623184507b 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/admission/imagepolicy/admission.go
+++ b/plugin/pkg/admission/imagepolicy/admission.go
@@ -219,6 +219,10 @@ func (a *Plugin) admitPod(pod *api.Pod, attributes admission.Attributes, review
 // For additional HTTP configuration, refer to the kubeconfig documentation
 // http://kubernetes.io/v1.1/docs/user-guide/kubeconfig-file.html.
 func NewImagePolicyWebhook(configFile io.Reader) (*Plugin, error) {
+	if configFile == nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no config specified")
+	}
+
 	// TODO: move this to a versioned configuration file format
 	var config AdmissionConfig
 	d := yaml.NewYAMLOrJSONDecoder(configFile, 4096)