diff --git a/app/src/processing/app/debug/TargetPackage.java b/app/src/processing/app/debug/TargetPackage.java
index 05d13fbae..3d9e8fcd5 100644
--- a/app/src/processing/app/debug/TargetPackage.java
+++ b/app/src/processing/app/debug/TargetPackage.java
@@ -32,20 +32,22 @@ import processing.app.helpers.filefilters.OnlyDirs;
 
 public class TargetPackage {
 
-  String name;
-  File folder;
+  private final String name;
 
   Map<String, TargetPlatform> platforms = new HashMap<String, TargetPlatform>();
 
-  public TargetPackage(String _name, File _folder) {
-    name = _name;
-    folder = _folder;
+  public TargetPackage(String name, File folder) {
+    this.name = name;
 
     String[] platformsList = folder.list(new OnlyDirs());
-    for (String platformName : platformsList) {
-      File platformFolder = new File(folder, platformName);
-      TargetPlatform platform = new TargetPlatform(platformName, platformFolder);
-      platforms.put(platformName, platform);
+    if (platformsList != null) {
+      for (String platformName : platformsList) {
+        File platformFolder = new File(folder, platformName);
+        if (platformFolder.exists() && platformFolder.canRead()) {
+          TargetPlatform platform = new TargetPlatform(platformName, platformFolder);
+          platforms.put(platformName, platform);
+        }
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/app/src/processing/app/debug/TargetPlatform.java b/app/src/processing/app/debug/TargetPlatform.java
index 912d37e0d..acd12b3fe 100644
--- a/app/src/processing/app/debug/TargetPlatform.java
+++ b/app/src/processing/app/debug/TargetPlatform.java
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ public class TargetPlatform {
 
     try {
       File boardsFile = new File(_folder, "boards.txt");
-      if (boardsFile.exists()) {
+      if (boardsFile.exists() && boardsFile.canRead()) {
         PreferencesMap boardPreferences = new PreferencesMap();
         boardPreferences.load(boardsFile);
         boards = boardPreferences.createFirstLevelMap();
@@ -69,15 +69,16 @@ public class TargetPlatform {
 
     try {
       File platformsFile = new File(_folder, "platform.txt");
-      if (platformsFile.exists())
+      if (platformsFile.exists() && platformsFile.canRead()) {
         preferences.load(platformsFile);
+      }
     } catch (Exception e) {
       System.err.println("Error loading platforms from platform.txt: " + e);
     }
 
     try {
       File programmersFile = new File(_folder, "programmers.txt");
-      if (programmersFile.exists()) {
+      if (programmersFile.exists() && programmersFile.canRead()) {
         PreferencesMap prefs = new PreferencesMap();
         prefs.load(programmersFile);
         programmers = prefs.createFirstLevelMap();
diff --git a/app/src/processing/app/helpers/PreferencesMap.java b/app/src/processing/app/helpers/PreferencesMap.java
index f83e04b1f..52ff7c3f2 100644
--- a/app/src/processing/app/helpers/PreferencesMap.java
+++ b/app/src/processing/app/helpers/PreferencesMap.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public class PreferencesMap extends LinkedHashMap<String, String> {
    * @throws FileNotFoundException
    * @throws IOException
    */
-  public void load(File file) throws FileNotFoundException, IOException {
+  public void load(File file) throws IOException {
     load(new FileInputStream(file));
   }