diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 46a4711..68a1205 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -435,8 +435,16 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 					__func__, realtime() - mm_realtime0, cputime() / (realtime() - mm_realtime0), mi->n_seq);
 		if (argc != o.ind + 1) mm_mapopt_update(&opt, mi);
 		if (mm_verbose >= 3) mm_idx_stat(mi);
-		if (junc_bed) mm_idx_bed_read(mi, junc_bed, 1);
-		if (fn_spsc) mm_idx_spsc_read(mi, fn_spsc, mm_max_spsc_bonus(&opt));
+		if (junc_bed) {
+			mm_idx_bed_read(mi, junc_bed, 1);
+			if (mi->I == 0 && mm_verbose >= 2)
+				fprintf(stderr, "[WARNING] failed to load the junction BED file\n");
+		}
+		if (fn_spsc) {
+			mm_idx_spsc_read(mi, fn_spsc, mm_max_spsc_bonus(&opt));
+			if (mi->spsc == 0 && mm_verbose >= 2)
+				fprintf(stderr, "[WARNING] failed to load the splice score file\n");
+		}
 		if (alt_list) mm_idx_alt_read(mi, alt_list);
 		if (argc - (o.ind + 1) == 0) {
 			mm_idx_destroy(mi);
diff --git a/minimap.h b/minimap.h
index 9678d1f..0389348 100644
--- a/minimap.h
+++ b/minimap.h
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
-#define MM_VERSION "2.28-r1216-dirty"
+#define MM_VERSION "2.28-r1221-dirty"
 
 #define MM_F_NO_DIAG       (0x001LL) // no exact diagonal hit
 #define MM_F_NO_DUAL       (0x002LL) // skip pairs where query name is lexicographically larger than target name