diff --git a/plugins/autoenv/autoenv.plugin.zsh b/plugins/autoenv/autoenv.plugin.zsh
index ca5666979..a8271849e 100644
--- a/plugins/autoenv/autoenv.plugin.zsh
+++ b/plugins/autoenv/autoenv.plugin.zsh
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
+# Activates autoenv or reports its failure
+if ! source $HOME/.autoenv/activate.sh 2>/dev/null; then
+  echo '-------- AUTOENV ---------'
+  echo 'Could not find ~/.autoenv/activate.sh.'
+  echo 'Please check if autoenv is correctly installed.'
+  echo 'In the meantime the autoenv plugin is DISABLED.'
+  echo '--------------------------'
+  return 1
+fi
+
 # The use_env call below is a reusable command to activate/create a new Python
 # virtualenv, requiring only a single declarative line of code in your .env files.
 # It only performs an action if the requested virtualenv is not the current one.
+
 use_env() {
     typeset venv
     venv="$1"