diff --git a/pkg/gui/files_panel.go b/pkg/gui/files_panel.go
index eb1fff94d..760dee934 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/files_panel.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/files_panel.go
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) handleFileOpen(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return gui.genericFileOpen(g, v, file.Name, func(filename string) (*exec.Cmd, error) { return nil, gui.OSCommand.OpenFile(filename) })
+	return gui.openFile(file.Name)
 }
 
 func (gui *Gui) handleSublimeFileOpen(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
@@ -417,3 +417,10 @@ func (gui *Gui) handleResetHard(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
 		return gui.refreshFiles(g)
 	}, nil)
 }
+
+func (gui *Gui) openFile(filename string) error {
+	if err := gui.OSCommand.OpenFile(filename); err != nil {
+		return gui.createErrorPanel(gui.g, err.Error())
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/gui/status_panel.go b/pkg/gui/status_panel.go
index 27e0aba5b..bad543880 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/status_panel.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/status_panel.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package gui
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"os/exec"
 
 	"github.com/fatih/color"
 	"github.com/jesseduffield/gocui"
@@ -66,8 +65,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) handleStatusSelect(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
 }
 
 func (gui *Gui) handleOpenConfig(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
-	filename := gui.Config.GetUserConfig().ConfigFileUsed()
-	return gui.genericFileOpen(g, v, filename, func(filename string) (*exec.Cmd, error) { return nil, gui.OSCommand.OpenFile(filename) })
+	return gui.openFile(gui.Config.GetUserConfig().ConfigFileUsed())
 }
 
 func (gui *Gui) handleEditConfig(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {