diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/CommandLineGATK.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/CommandLineGATK.java
index 0950a381a..ecb9c719d 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/CommandLineGATK.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/CommandLineGATK.java
@@ -99,10 +99,10 @@ public class CommandLineGATK extends CommandLineExecutable {
      * @return The application header.
      */
     public static List<String> createApplicationHeader() {
-        ResourceBundle headerInfo = ResourceBundle.getBundle("StingText");
+        ResourceBundle headerInfo = TextFormattingUtils.loadResourceBundle("StingText");
 
-        String versionNumber = headerInfo.getString("org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.version");
-        String timestamp = headerInfo.getString("build.timestamp");
+        String versionNumber = headerInfo.containsKey("org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.version") ? headerInfo.getString("org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.version") : "<unknown>";
+        String timestamp = headerInfo.containsKey("build.timestamp") ? headerInfo.getString("build.timestamp") : "<unknown>";
 
         List<String> header = new ArrayList<String>();
         header.add(String.format("The Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK) v%s, Compiled %s",versionNumber,timestamp));
diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/WalkerManager.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/WalkerManager.java
index fb3d9f2c3..55f67fe08 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/WalkerManager.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/WalkerManager.java
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@
 package org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk;
 
 import java.util.*;
-import java.io.InputStream;
-import java.io.IOException;
 
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.*;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.refdata.ReferenceOrderedDatum;
@@ -35,6 +33,7 @@ import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.refdata.ReferenceOrderedData;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.filters.FilterManager;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.StingException;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PluginManager;
+import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.TextFormattingUtils;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.help.DisplayNameTaglet;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.help.DescriptionTaglet;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.help.SummaryTaglet;
@@ -62,7 +61,7 @@ public class WalkerManager extends PluginManager<Walker> {
 
     public WalkerManager() {
         super(Walker.class,"walker","Walker");
-        helpText = ResourceBundle.getBundle("StingText");
+        helpText = TextFormattingUtils.loadResourceBundle("StingText");
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/TextFormattingUtils.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/TextFormattingUtils.java
index 923c44dc1..d8eb7c5d7 100644
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/TextFormattingUtils.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/TextFormattingUtils.java
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 package org.broadinstitute.sting.utils;
 
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Comparator;
+import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
+
+import java.util.*;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.io.StringReader;
+import java.io.IOException;
 
 /**
  * Common utilities for dealing with text formatting.
@@ -13,6 +15,11 @@ import java.util.regex.Matcher;
  * @version 0.1
  */
 public class TextFormattingUtils {
+    /**
+     * our log, which we want to capture anything from this class
+     */
+    private static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(TextFormattingUtils.class);    
+
     /**
      * The default line width, for GATK output written to the screen.
      */
@@ -57,7 +64,30 @@ public class TextFormattingUtils {
             if(rhs == null) return -1;
             return lhs.toLowerCase().compareTo(rhs.toLowerCase());
         }
+    }
 
+    /**
+     * Load the contents of a resource bundle with the given name.  If no such resource exists, warn the user
+     * and create an empty bundle.
+     * @param bundleName The name of the bundle to load.
+     * @return The best resource bundle that can be found matching the given name.
+     */
+    public static ResourceBundle loadResourceBundle(String bundleName) {
+        ResourceBundle bundle;
+        try {
+            bundle = ResourceBundle.getBundle(bundleName);
+        }
+        catch(MissingResourceException ex) {
+            logger.warn("Unable to load help text.  Help output will be sparse.");
+            // Generate an empty resource bundle.
+            try {
+                bundle = new PropertyResourceBundle(new StringReader(""));
+            }
+            catch(IOException ioe) {
+                throw new StingException("No resource bundle found, and unable to create an empty placeholder.",ioe);
+            }
+        }
+        return bundle;
     }
 
 }