diff --git a/lbry/conf.py b/lbry/conf.py
index fa395d8a9..6e1081a91 100644
--- a/lbry/conf.py
+++ b/lbry/conf.py
@@ -691,9 +691,10 @@ def get_darwin_directories() -> typing.Tuple[str, str, str]:
 def get_linux_directories() -> typing.Tuple[str, str, str]:
     try:
         with open(os.path.join(user_config_dir(), 'user-dirs.dirs'), 'r') as xdg:
-            down_dir = re.search(r'XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR=(.+)', xdg.read()).group(1)
-        down_dir = re.sub(r'\$HOME', os.getenv('HOME') or os.path.expanduser("~/"), down_dir)
-        download_dir = re.sub('\"', '', down_dir)
+            down_dir = re.search(r'XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR=(.+)', xdg.read())
+        if down_dir:
+            down_dir = re.sub(r'\$HOME', os.getenv('HOME') or os.path.expanduser("~/"), down_dir.group(1))
+            download_dir = re.sub('\"', '', down_dir)
     except OSError:
         download_dir = os.getenv('XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR')
     if not download_dir: