diff --git a/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/Resolver.scala b/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/Resolver.scala
index 01db05ea1..57a73dec2 100644
--- a/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/Resolver.scala
+++ b/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/Resolver.scala
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  */
 package sbt
 
-import java.io.File
+import java.io.{ IOException, File }
 import java.net.URL
 import scala.xml.{ Text, NodeSeq, Elem, XML }
 import org.apache.ivy.plugins.resolver.DependencyResolver
@@ -304,14 +304,17 @@ object Resolver {
   private[this] def mavenLocalDir: File = {
     def loadHomeFromSettings(f: () => File): Option[File] =
       try {
-        val file = XML.loadFile(f())
-        (file \ "localRepository").text match {
+        val file = f()
+        if(!file.exists) None
+        else ((XML.loadFile(file) \ "localRepository").text match {
           case ""    => None
           case e @ _ => Some(new File(e))
-        }
+        })
       } catch {
         // Occurs inside File constructor when property or environment variable does not exist
         case _: NullPointerException => None
+        // Occurs when File does not exist
+        case _: IOException          => None
         case e: SAXParseException    => System.err.println(s"WARNING: Problem parsing ${f().getAbsolutePath}, ${e.getMessage}"); None
       }
     loadHomeFromSettings(() => new File(Path.userHome, ".m2/settings.xml")) orElse