diff --git a/settings/pre-settings.el b/settings/pre-settings.el
index cf381df3..1dc502ff 100644
--- a/settings/pre-settings.el
+++ b/settings/pre-settings.el
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ Both Win32 and Cygwin count.")
   "Check if DBus is available.")
 
 ;; add local icon folder to the image-load-path
-(add-to-list 'image-load-path (concat config-dir "icon/"))
+(when (featurep 'image)
+  (add-to-list 'image-load-path (concat config-dir "icon/")))
 
 (use-package cus-edit
   :config