diff --git a/edbob/exceptions.py b/edbob/exceptions.py
index 16ce3c5..a5a802e 100644
--- a/edbob/exceptions.py
+++ b/edbob/exceptions.py
@@ -42,6 +42,18 @@ class ConfigError(Exception):
             self.msg, self.option, self.section)
 
 
+class InitError(Exception):
+    """
+    Raised when initialization fails for a given module.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, module):
+        self.module = module
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "Module '%s' has no init() function" % self.module.__name__
+
+
 class LoadSpecError(Exception):
     """
     Raised when something obvious goes wrong with :func:`edbob.load_spec()`.
diff --git a/edbob/initialization.py b/edbob/initialization.py
index e4c8ede..4a93344 100644
--- a/edbob/initialization.py
+++ b/edbob/initialization.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ from edbob.configuration import (
     default_system_paths,
     default_user_paths,
     )
+from edbob.exceptions import InitError
 
 
 __all__ = ['init']
@@ -90,6 +91,8 @@ def init(appname='edbob', *args, **kwargs):
         for name in modules.split(','):
             name = name.strip()
             module = __import__(name, globals(), locals(), fromlist=['init'])
+            if not hasattr(module, 'init'):
+                raise InitError(module)
             getattr(module, 'init')(config)
             # config.inited.append(name)