diff --git a/frontend/webpack/config.dev.js b/frontend/webpack/config.dev.js
index e24ce819c..9e7377768 100644
--- a/frontend/webpack/config.dev.js
+++ b/frontend/webpack/config.dev.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ const { resolve } = require("path");
 const { merge } = require("webpack-merge");
 const BASE_CONFIG = require("./config.base");
 const ExtraWatchWebpackPlugin = require("extra-watch-webpack-plugin");
+const fs = require("fs");
 
 /** @type { import('webpack').Configuration } */
 const DEV_CONFIG = {
@@ -24,4 +25,9 @@ const DEV_CONFIG = {
   ],
 };
 
+if (!fs.existsSync(resolve(__dirname, "../src/constants/firebase-config.ts"))) {
+  const msg = `File firebase-config.ts is missing! Please duplicate firebase-config-example.ts and rename it to firebase-config.ts. If you are using Firebase, fill in the values in the config file. If not, you can leave the fields blank.`;
+  throw new Error(msg);
+}
+
 module.exports = merge(BASE_CONFIG, DEV_CONFIG);