diff --git a/lua/ivy/libivy.lua b/lua/ivy/libivy.lua
index f1267f5..c3ac126 100644
--- a/lua/ivy/libivy.lua
+++ b/lua/ivy/libivy.lua
@@ -1,34 +1,42 @@
 local library_path = (function()
   local dirname = string.sub(debug.getinfo(1).source, 2, #"/fzf_lib.lua" * -1)
   return dirname .. "/../../target/release/libivyrs.so"
 end)()
 
 local ffi = require "ffi"
-local ivy_c = ffi.load(library_path)
+local ok, ivy_c = pcall(ffi.load, library_path)
+if not ok then
+  vim.api.nvim_err_writeln(
+    "libivyrs.so not found! Please ensure you have complied the shared library."
+      .. " For more info refer to the documentation, https://github.com/AdeAttwood/ivy.nvim#compiling"
+  )
+
+  return
+end
 
 ffi.cdef [[
     void ivy_init(const char*);
     char* ivy_cwd();
     int ivy_match(const char*, const char*);
     char* ivy_files(const char*, const char*);
 ]]
 
 local libivy = {}
 
 libivy.ivy_init = function(dir)
   ivy_c.ivy_init(dir)
 end
 
 libivy.ivy_cwd = function()
   return ffi.string(ivy_c.ivy_cwd())
 end
 
 libivy.ivy_match = function(pattern, text)
   return ivy_c.ivy_match(pattern, text)
 end
 
 libivy.ivy_files = function(pattern, base_dir)
   return ffi.string(ivy_c.ivy_files(pattern, base_dir))
 end
 
 return libivy