diff --git a/src/ngx_http_auth_jwt_module.c b/src/ngx_http_auth_jwt_module.c
index fbd07ba..876d5cf 100644
--- a/src/ngx_http_auth_jwt_module.c
+++ b/src/ngx_http_auth_jwt_module.c
@@ -435,7 +435,10 @@ loadAuthKey(ngx_conf_t *cf, ngx_http_auth_jwt_loc_conf_t* conf) {
 	}
 
 	conf->_auth_jwt_keyfile.data = ngx_palloc(cf->pool, keySize);
-	fread(conf->_auth_jwt_keyfile.data, 1, keySize, keyFile);
+	if((int)fread(conf->_auth_jwt_keyfile.data, 1, keySize, keyFile) != (int)keySize) {
+		ngx_log_error(NGX_LOG_ERR, cf->log, 0, "error reading key file, check the key file");
+		return NGX_ERROR;
+	}
 	conf->_auth_jwt_keyfile.len = (int)keySize;
 
 	fclose(keyFile);