diff --git a/src/mem/rubymem.cc b/src/mem/rubymem.cc
index 70077e7da..aecc0af32 100644
--- a/src/mem/rubymem.cc
+++ b/src/mem/rubymem.cc
@@ -58,8 +58,15 @@ RubyMemory::RubyMemory(const Params *p)
     ruby_clock = p->clock;
     ruby_phase = p->phase;
 
+    DPRINTF(Ruby, "creating Ruby Memory from file %s\n",
+            p->config_file.c_str());
+
     ifstream config(p->config_file.c_str());
 
+    if (config.good() == false) {
+        fatal("Did not successfully open %s.\n", p->config_file.c_str());
+    }
+
     vector<RubyObjConf> sys_conf;
     while (!config.eof()) {
         char buffer[65536];