diff --git a/main/udptl.c b/main/udptl.c
index 7f4936de6a..772da03ee5 100644
--- a/main/udptl.c
+++ b/main/udptl.c
@@ -1419,14 +1419,17 @@ static int removed_options_handler(const struct aco_option *opt, struct ast_vari
 
 static void __ast_udptl_reload(int reload)
 {
-	RAII_VAR(struct udptl_config *, udptl_cfg, udptl_snapshot_alloc(), ao2_cleanup);
-
 	if (aco_process_config(&cfg_info, reload) == ACO_PROCESS_ERROR) {
 		if (!reload) {
-			if (!aco_set_defaults(&general_option, "general", udptl_cfg->general)) {
-				ast_log(LOG_WARNING, "Could not load udptl config; using defaults\n");
-				ao2_global_obj_replace(globals, udptl_cfg);
+			RAII_VAR(struct udptl_config *, udptl_cfg, udptl_snapshot_alloc(), ao2_cleanup);
+
+			if (aco_set_defaults(&general_option, "general", udptl_cfg->general)) {
+				ast_log(LOG_ERROR, "Failed to load udptl.conf and failed to initialize defaults.\n");
+				return;
 			}
+
+			ast_log(LOG_NOTICE, "Could not load udptl config; using defaults\n");
+			ao2_global_obj_replace_unref(globals, udptl_cfg);
 		}
 	}
 }