diff --git a/zen-writer.el b/zen-writer.el
index d08411f..8bfa595 100644
--- a/zen-writer.el
+++ b/zen-writer.el
@@ -36,12 +36,13 @@
 (require 'hl-sentence)
 (defvar doom-theme)
 
-
-
-;; load the local themes
-
-(let ((dir (file-name-directory (or load-file-name buffer-file-name))))
-  (add-to-list 'custom-theme-load-path (concat dir "/themes")))
+;;;###autoload
+(when (and (boundp 'custom-theme-load-path) load-file-name )
+  (let* ((base (file-name-directory load-file-name))
+         (dir (expand-file-name "themes/" base)))
+    (add-to-list 'custom-theme-load-path
+                 (or (and (file-directory-p dir) dir)
+                     base))))
 
 ;; configuration
 (defvar zen-writer-light-theme 'doom-zen-writer