diff --git a/terminatorlib/cwd.py b/terminatorlib/cwd.py
index a6877b4d..7b17d84b 100755
--- a/terminatorlib/cwd.py
+++ b/terminatorlib/cwd.py
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ def get_default_cwd():
     """Determine a reasonable default cwd"""
     cwd = os.getcwd()
     if not os.path.exists(cwd) or not os.path.isdir(cwd):
-        cwd = pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[5]
+        try:
+            cwd = pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[5]
+        except KeyError:
+            cwd = '/'
     
     return(cwd)
 
diff --git a/terminatorlib/util.py b/terminatorlib/util.py
index 872b76d0..02d7e9e6 100755
--- a/terminatorlib/util.py
+++ b/terminatorlib/util.py
@@ -128,7 +128,11 @@ def path_lookup(command):
 
 def shell_lookup():
     """Find an appropriate shell for the user"""
-    shells = [os.getenv('SHELL'), pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[6], 'bash',
+    try:
+        usershell = pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[6]
+    except KeyError:
+        usershell = None
+    shells = [os.getenv('SHELL'), usershell, 'bash',
             'zsh', 'tcsh', 'ksh', 'csh', 'sh']
 
     for shell in shells: