diff --git a/src/runtime.rs b/src/runtime.rs
index 8a8e365..b39d46e 100644
--- a/src/runtime.rs
+++ b/src/runtime.rs
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ impl RunState {
     }
 
     pub fn from_raw(raw: &[u16]) -> Result<RunState> {
+        if raw.len() == 0 {
+            exception!("provided file is empty");
+        }
+
         let orig = raw[0] as usize;
         if orig as usize + raw.len() > MEMORY_MAX {
             exception!("assembly file is too long and cannot fit in memory");