diff --git a/pythonrewrite/bin/CryptoBoxPlugin.py b/pythonrewrite/bin/CryptoBoxPlugin.py
index 62bf9d3..cffb2c2 100644
--- a/pythonrewrite/bin/CryptoBoxPlugin.py
+++ b/pythonrewrite/bin/CryptoBoxPlugin.py
@@ -66,7 +66,10 @@ class CryptoBoxPlugin:
 
 
 	def getLanguageData(self, lang="en"):
-		import neo_cgi, neo_util
+		try:
+			import neo_cgi, neo_util
+		except:
+			raise CryptoBoxExceptions.CBEnvironmentError("couldn't import 'neo_*'! Try 'apt-get install python-clearsilver'.")
 		langdir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(self.pluginDir, "lang"))
 		## first: the default language file (english)
 		langFiles = [os.path.join(langdir, "en.hdf")]
diff --git a/pythonrewrite/bin/WebInterfaceDataset.py b/pythonrewrite/bin/WebInterfaceDataset.py
index 581c6ce..a332028 100644
--- a/pythonrewrite/bin/WebInterfaceDataset.py
+++ b/pythonrewrite/bin/WebInterfaceDataset.py
@@ -79,7 +79,10 @@ class WebInterfaceDataset(dict):
 
 
 	def __getLanguageName(self, lang):
-		import neo_cgi, neo_util, neo_cs
+		try:
+			import neo_cgi, neo_util, neo_cs
+		except:
+			raise CryptoBoxExceptions.CBEnvironmentError("couldn't import 'neo_*'! Try 'apt-get install python-clearsilver'.")
 		hdf_path = os.path.join(self.prefs["Locations"]["LangDir"], lang + ".hdf")
 		hdf = neo_util.HDF()
 		hdf.readFile(hdf_path)