diff --git a/core/src/com/unciv/logic/GameSaver.kt b/core/src/com/unciv/logic/GameSaver.kt
index adacae0196..43a0aeeaf3 100644
--- a/core/src/com/unciv/logic/GameSaver.kt
+++ b/core/src/com/unciv/logic/GameSaver.kt
@@ -48,7 +48,10 @@ class GameSaver {
     fun getGeneralSettings(): GameSettings {
         val settingsFile = getGeneralSettingsFile()
         if(!settingsFile.exists()) return GameSettings()
-        val settings = json().fromJson(GameSettings::class.java, settingsFile)
+        var settings = json().fromJson(GameSettings::class.java, settingsFile)
+        // I'm not sure of the circumstances,
+        // but some people were getting null settings, even though the file existed??? Very odd.
+        if(settings==null) settings = GameSettings()
 
         val currentTileSets = ImageGetter.atlas.regions.asSequence()
                 .filter { it.name.startsWith("TileSets") }