diff --git a/rnsutils/instrument.py b/rnsutils/instrument.py
index 0219a12..6ea04eb 100644
--- a/rnsutils/instrument.py
+++ b/rnsutils/instrument.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class RenoiseInstrument(object):
         else:
             try:
                 self.load(template_filename)
-            except FileNotFoundError:
+            except IOError:
                 self.load(io.BytesIO(pkgutil.get_data('rnsutils', 'data/{}'.format(template_filename))))
 
             self.extract_sample_template()
diff --git a/rnsutils/tests/test_parse.py b/rnsutils/tests/test_parse.py
index 6e513d2..ac16510 100644
--- a/rnsutils/tests/test_parse.py
+++ b/rnsutils/tests/test_parse.py
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
+import unittest
+
 from rnsutils.instrument import RenoiseInstrument
 
 
-def test_open_template():
-    # creates an empty instrument, which trigger template loading
-    RenoiseInstrument()
+class TestParse(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_open_template(self):
+        # creates an empty instrument, which trigger template loading
+        RenoiseInstrument()
+
+    def test_missing_template(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(Exception):
+            RenoiseInstrument(template_filename='I dont exist.xnri')