diff --git a/src/core/Config.cpp b/src/core/Config.cpp
index 28b17536f..e074df6cb 100644
--- a/src/core/Config.cpp
+++ b/src/core/Config.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,16 @@ QVariant Config::get(const QString& key, const QVariant& defaultValue)
     return m_settings->value(key, defaultValue);
 }
 
+bool Config::hasAccessError()
+{
+    return m_settings->status() & QSettings::AccessError;
+}
+
+QString Config::getFileName()
+{
+    return m_settings->fileName();
+}
+
 void Config::set(const QString& key, const QVariant& value)
 {
     m_settings->setValue(key, value);
diff --git a/src/core/Config.h b/src/core/Config.h
index 09aa02fb1..1fb937cf9 100644
--- a/src/core/Config.h
+++ b/src/core/Config.h
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@ public:
     ~Config();
     QVariant get(const QString& key);
     QVariant get(const QString& key, const QVariant& defaultValue);
+    QString getFileName();
     void set(const QString& key, const QVariant& value);
+    bool hasAccessError();
 
     static Config* instance();
     static void createConfigFromFile(const QString& file);
diff --git a/src/gui/MainWindow.cpp b/src/gui/MainWindow.cpp
index 442c04735..d8dd7dcd9 100644
--- a/src/gui/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -314,6 +314,12 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow()
     connect(m_ui->tabWidget, SIGNAL(messageDismissTab()), this, SLOT(hideTabMessage()));
 
     updateTrayIcon();
+
+    if (config()->hasAccessError()) {
+        m_ui->globalMessageWidget->showMessage(
+            tr("Access error for config file %1").arg(config()->getFileName()), MessageWidget::Error);
+    }
+
 }
 
 MainWindow::~MainWindow()
diff --git a/src/gui/SettingsWidget.cpp b/src/gui/SettingsWidget.cpp
index 62af276e8..19dae371d 100644
--- a/src/gui/SettingsWidget.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/SettingsWidget.cpp
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ SettingsWidget::SettingsWidget(QWidget* parent)
 
 #ifdef Q_OS_MAC
     // systray not useful on OS X
-   m_generalUi->systraySettings->setVisible(false);
+    m_generalUi->systraySettings->setVisible(false);
 #endif
 
     connect(this, SIGNAL(accepted()), SLOT(saveSettings()));
@@ -99,6 +99,12 @@ void SettingsWidget::addSettingsPage(ISettingsPage* page)
 
 void SettingsWidget::loadSettings()
 {
+
+    if (config()->hasAccessError()) {
+        showMessage(
+            tr("Access error for config file %1").arg(config()->getFileName()), MessageWidget::Error);
+    }
+
     m_generalUi->rememberLastDatabasesCheckBox->setChecked(config()->get("RememberLastDatabases").toBool());
     m_generalUi->rememberLastKeyFilesCheckBox->setChecked(config()->get("RememberLastKeyFiles").toBool());
     m_generalUi->openPreviousDatabasesOnStartupCheckBox->setChecked(
@@ -154,6 +160,15 @@ void SettingsWidget::loadSettings()
 
 void SettingsWidget::saveSettings()
 {
+
+    if (config()->hasAccessError()) {
+        showMessage(
+            tr("Access error for config file %1").arg(config()->getFileName()), MessageWidget::Error);
+        // We prevent closing the settings page if we could not write to
+        // the config file.
+        return;
+    }
+
     config()->set("RememberLastDatabases", m_generalUi->rememberLastDatabasesCheckBox->isChecked());
     config()->set("RememberLastKeyFiles", m_generalUi->rememberLastKeyFilesCheckBox->isChecked());
     config()->set("OpenPreviousDatabasesOnStartup",