diff --git a/genex/comp.c b/genex/comp.c
index dcc709c..4824823 100644
--- a/genex/comp.c
+++ b/genex/comp.c
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ void read_desc(FILE *file)
 	char buf[1100]; /* more than enough */
 	struct node *node;
 	char *p, *end;
-	int lineno = 0;
+	int skip = 0, lineno = 0;
 
 	while (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), file)) {
 		lineno++;
@@ -170,11 +170,15 @@ void read_desc(FILE *file)
 				fprintf(stderr,
 				    "component \"%s\" not found in line %d\n", 
 				    buf, lineno);
-				exit(1);
+				skip = 1;
+				continue;
 			}
 			for (anchor = &node->comment; *anchor;
 			    anchor = &(*anchor)->next);
+			skip = 0;
 		}
+		if (skip)
+			continue;
 
 		/* remove leading whitespace */
 		while (*p && isspace(*p))