diff --git a/examples/export-lora/export-lora.cpp b/examples/export-lora/export-lora.cpp
index c6a3e5ecb..72280f709 100644
--- a/examples/export-lora/export-lora.cpp
+++ b/examples/export-lora/export-lora.cpp
@@ -198,6 +198,17 @@ static bool export_lora_params_parse(int argc, char ** argv, struct export_lora_
             exit(1);
         }
     }
+
+    if (params->fn_model_base == default_params.fn_model_base) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "error: please specify a filename for model-base.\n", arg.c_str());
+        export_lora_print_usage(argc, argv, &default_params);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+    if (params->fn_model_out == default_params.fn_model_out) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "error: please specify a filename for model-out.\n", arg.c_str());
+        export_lora_print_usage(argc, argv, &default_params);
+        exit(1);
+    }
     if (invalid_param) {
         fprintf(stderr, "error: invalid parameter for argument: '%s'\n", arg.c_str());
         export_lora_print_usage(argc, argv, &default_params);
@@ -206,6 +217,13 @@ static bool export_lora_params_parse(int argc, char ** argv, struct export_lora_
     return true;
 }
 
+static void free_lora(struct lora_data * lora) {
+    if (lora->ctx != NULL) {
+        ggml_free(lora->ctx);
+    }
+    delete lora;
+}
+
 static struct lora_data * load_lora(struct lora_info * info) {
     struct lora_data * result = new struct lora_data;
     result->info = *info;
@@ -215,7 +233,10 @@ static struct lora_data * load_lora(struct lora_info * info) {
 
     struct llama_file file(info->filename.c_str(), "rb");
     if (file.fp == NULL) {
-        return result;
+        fprintf(stderr, "warning: Could not open lora adapter '%s'. Ignoring this adapter.\n",
+            info->filename.c_str());
+        free_lora(result);
+        return NULL;
     }
 
     struct ggml_init_params params_ggml;
@@ -278,12 +299,6 @@ static struct lora_data * load_lora(struct lora_info * info) {
     return result;
 }
 
-static void free_lora(struct lora_data * lora) {
-    if (lora->ctx != NULL) {
-        ggml_free(lora->ctx);
-    }
-    delete lora;
-}
 
 static struct ggml_cgraph * build_graph_lora(
     struct ggml_context * ctx,
@@ -304,6 +319,9 @@ static struct ggml_cgraph * build_graph_lora(
 }
 
 static bool apply_lora(struct ggml_tensor * tensor, struct lora_data * lora, int n_threads) {
+    if (lora->ctx == NULL) {
+        return false;
+    }
     std::string name = ggml_get_name(tensor);
     std::string name_a = name + std::string(".loraA");
     std::string name_b = name + std::string(".loraB");
@@ -354,7 +372,19 @@ static void export_lora(struct export_lora_params * params) {
     // load all loras
     std::vector<struct lora_data *> loras;
     for (size_t i = 0; i < params->lora.size(); ++i) {
-        loras.push_back(load_lora(&params->lora[i]));
+        struct lora_data * lora = load_lora(&params->lora[i]);
+        if (lora != NULL) {
+            loras.push_back(lora);
+        }
+    }
+    if (loras.size() == 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "warning: no lora adapters will be applied.\n");
+    }
+
+    // open input file
+    struct llama_file fin(params->fn_model_base.c_str(), "rb");
+    if (!fin.fp) {
+        die_fmt("Could not open file '%s'\n", params->fn_model_base.c_str());
     }
 
     // open base model gguf, read tensors without their data
@@ -388,7 +418,6 @@ static void export_lora(struct export_lora_params * params) {
     gguf_get_meta_data(gguf_out, meta.data());
     fout.write_raw(meta.data(), meta.size());
 
-    struct llama_file fin(params->fn_model_base.c_str(), "rb");
     std::vector<uint8_t> data;
     std::vector<uint8_t> padding;
     for (int i=0; i < n_tensors; ++i) {