diff -up ypbind-mt-1.20.4/src/ypbind-mt.c.network ypbind-mt-1.20.4/src/ypbind-mt.c
--- ypbind-mt-1.20.4/src/ypbind-mt.c.network	2009-10-29 11:53:00.265296485 +0100
+++ ypbind-mt-1.20.4/src/ypbind-mt.c	2009-10-29 11:53:00.269297063 +0100
@@ -297,6 +299,25 @@ load_config (int check_syntax)
   return 0;
 }
 
+
+/* Load the configuration, exiting if there's an error */
+static void
+load_config_or_exit(void)
+{
+  if (load_config (0) != 0)
+    {
+      fputs (_("No NIS server and no -broadcast option specified.\n"),
+	     stderr);
+      fprintf (stderr,
+	       _("Add a NIS server to the %s configuration file,\n"),
+	       configfile);
+      fputs (_("or start ypbind with the -broadcast option.\n"),
+	     stderr);
+      exit (1);
+    }
+}
+
+
 /* Create a pidfile on startup */
 static void
 create_pidfile (void)
@@ -765,18 +803,22 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 	       BINDINGDIR, strerror (errno));
       exit (1);
     }
-  /*
-   * Load config if we're not using DBUS/NetworkManager, since we
-   * assume the network is available now.  If we're using NetworkManager,
-   * the config will be loaded when a network becomes available.
-   */
-  if (disable_dbus)
-    {
-      /* Load the configuration.  If the load fails, set up broadcast mode. */
-      if (!use_broadcast && (load_config (0) != 0))
-        use_broadcast = 1;
+
+  if (!use_broadcast)
+    {
+#ifdef USE_DBUS_NM
+      /* If we don't use DBUS, exit with an error if we cannot load the
+	 config. Else load the config, maybe there is a network already
+	 running. */
+      if (disable_dbus)
+	load_config_or_exit ();
+      else
+	load_config (0);
+#else
+      load_config_or_exit ();
+#endif
     }
-  if (use_broadcast)
+  else
     add_server (domain, NULL, 0);
 
   unlink_bindingdir ();