diff --git a/stepmania/src/StepMania.cpp b/stepmania/src/StepMania.cpp
index 75a255d538..a57ab148c8 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/StepMania.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/StepMania.cpp
@@ -357,6 +357,10 @@ RageDisplay *CreateDisplay()
 
 	CStringArray asRenderers;
 	split( PREFSMAN->m_sVideoRenderers, ",", asRenderers, true );
+
+	if( asRenderers.empty() )
+		RageException::Throw("No video renderers attempted.");
+
 	for( unsigned i=0; i<asRenderers.size(); i++ )
 	{
 		CString sRenderer = asRenderers[i];
@@ -399,9 +403,6 @@ RageDisplay *CreateDisplay()
 			RageException::Throw("Unknown video renderer value: %s", sRenderer.c_str() );
 	}
 
-	if( asRenderers.empty() )
-		error += "No video renderers attempted.\n\n";
-
 	RageException::Throw( error );
 }