diff --git a/bin/lsd2_mac b/bin/lsd2_mac
index 30c89f2..ca692ae 100755
Binary files a/bin/lsd2_mac and b/bin/lsd2_mac differ
diff --git a/bin/lsd2_unix b/bin/lsd2_unix
index 242fc06..d2b652c 100755
Binary files a/bin/lsd2_unix and b/bin/lsd2_unix differ
diff --git a/src/lsd.cpp b/src/lsd.cpp
index 17bb418..b32f194 100644
--- a/src/lsd.cpp
+++ b/src/lsd.cpp
@@ -127,6 +127,10 @@ int lsd::buildTimeTree( int argc, char** argv, InputOutputStream *inputOutput)
             string line;
             if( getline(*(io->inRate), line)) {
                 vector<double> all_rates = read_double_from_line(line);
+                if (all_rates.size()==0){
+                    cerr<<"Error from the input rate file, expect a real number"<<endl;
+                    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+                }
                 opt->rho = all_rates[0];
                 if (all_rates.size() > 1){
                     int i = 1;