diff --git a/libgnucash/core-utils/gnc-prefs.c b/libgnucash/core-utils/gnc-prefs.c
index b0369bc..dec3b23 100644
--- a/libgnucash/core-utils/gnc-prefs.c
+++ b/libgnucash/core-utils/gnc-prefs.c
@@ -133,8 +133,10 @@ gulong gnc_prefs_register_cb (const char *group,
if (prefsbackend && prefsbackend->register_cb)
return (prefsbackend->register_cb) (group, pref_name, func, user_data);
else
+ {
g_warning ("no preferences backend loaded, or the backend doesn't define register_cb, returning 0");
return 0;
+ }
}