diff --git a/utils/load_settings.sh b/utils/load_settings.sh
index 85d06adb26a729f9401c7130e5af543445fa5cd1..16f55451f2852c1428c53c66f86cb022d7b473f7 100644
--- a/utils/load_settings.sh
+++ b/utils/load_settings.sh
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ if [[ -n "$ENV_FILE" ]] ; then
     source "$ENV_FILE"
 fi
 
+if [[ -z "$MYSQL_CMD" ]] ; then
+    echo "mysql not defined!"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 export MYSQL_CMD
 export MYSQLDUMP_CMD
 export MYSQLADMIN_CMD