diff --git a/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/AbstractUtility.cs b/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/AbstractUtility.cs
index 77408758e..c4eeb0b9e 100644
--- a/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/AbstractUtility.cs
+++ b/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/AbstractUtility.cs
@@ -271,12 +271,14 @@ protected void CheckExe(FileInfo file, string expectedFileName)
 
             if (file == null)
             {
-                throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(file));
+                throw new ArgumentNullException(
+                    nameof(file),
+                    $"Expected path to binary with file name {expectedFileName} but was supplied with null.");
             }
 
             if (!File.Exists(file.FullName))
             {
-                throw new FileNotFoundException("Could not find exe: " + file.FullName, file.FullName);
+                throw new FileNotFoundException("Could not find binary: " + file.FullName, file.FullName);
             }
 
             if (!file.Name.Contains(expectedFileName))
diff --git a/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/AudioFormatNotSupportedException.cs b/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/AudioFormatNotSupportedException.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5998ce3d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/AudioFormatNotSupportedException.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// <copyright file="AudioFormatNotSupportedException.cs" company="QutEcoacoustics">
+// All code in this file and all associated files are the copyright and property of the QUT Ecoacoustics Research Group (formerly MQUTeR, and formerly QUT Bioacoustics Research Group).
+// </copyright>
+
+namespace Acoustics.Tools.Audio
+{
+    using System;
+
+    public class AudioFormatNotSupportedException : NotSupportedException
+    {
+        public AudioFormatNotSupportedException(string message)
+            : base(message)
+        {
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/MasterAudioUtility.cs b/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/MasterAudioUtility.cs
index 7273ee575..fefb55194 100644
--- a/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/MasterAudioUtility.cs
+++ b/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/MasterAudioUtility.cs
@@ -310,6 +310,11 @@ public override AudioUtilityInfo Info(FileInfo source)
 
             if (mediaType == MediaTypes.MediaTypeWavpack)
             {
+                if (this.wvunpackUtility == null)
+                {
+                    throw new AudioFormatNotSupportedException(WavPackAudioUtility.MissingBinary);
+                }
+
                 info = this.Combine(this.wvunpackUtility.Info(source), this.ffmpegUtility.Info(source));
             }
             else if (mediaType == MediaTypes.MediaTypeMp3 || mediaType == MediaTypes.MediaTypeWav)
@@ -399,11 +404,19 @@ protected override AudioUtilityInfo GetInfo(FileInfo source, ProcessRunner proce
         /// </param>
         protected override void CheckRequestValid(FileInfo source, string sourceMimeType, FileInfo output, string outputMediaType, AudioUtilityRequest request)
         {
-            // no restrictions
+            if (this.wvunpackUtility == null)
+            {
+                throw new AudioFormatNotSupportedException(WavPackAudioUtility.MissingBinary);
+            }
         }
 
         private FileInfo SegmentWavpackToWav(FileInfo source, AudioUtilityRequest request)
         {
+            if (this.wvunpackUtility == null)
+            {
+                throw new AudioFormatNotSupportedException(WavPackAudioUtility.MissingBinary);
+            }
+
             // use a temp file for wvunpack.
             var wavunpackTempFile = TempFileHelper.NewTempFile(this.TemporaryFilesDirectory, MediaTypes.GetExtension(MediaTypes.MediaTypeWav));
 
diff --git a/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/WavPackAudioUtility.cs b/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/WavPackAudioUtility.cs
index e014f6b83..c099659ec 100644
--- a/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/WavPackAudioUtility.cs
+++ b/src/Acoustics.Tools/Audio/WavPackAudioUtility.cs
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ public class WavPackAudioUtility : AbstractAudioUtility, IAudioUtility
         // -w = regenerate .wav header (ignore RIFF data in file)
         */
 
+        public const string MissingBinary = "Converting from WavPack is not supported because we cannot find a wvunpack binary.";
+
         private const string ArgsDefault = " -m -q -w ";
         private const string ArgsSkip = " --skip={0} ";
         private const string ArgsUtil = " --until={0}{1} ";
@@ -53,10 +55,14 @@ public class WavPackAudioUtility : AbstractAudioUtility, IAudioUtility
         /// The wav Unpack.
         /// </param>
         /// <exception cref="FileNotFoundException">
+        /// If the provided binary does not exist.
         /// </exception>
         /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">
+        /// If <paramref name="wavUnpack"/> is null.
+        /// </exception>
+        /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">
+        /// If <paramref name="wavUnpack"/> does contain the string "wavUnpack".
         /// </exception>
-        /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">wavUnpack</exception>
         public WavPackAudioUtility(FileInfo wavUnpack)
         {
             this.CheckExe(wavUnpack, "wvunpack");
@@ -73,10 +79,14 @@ public WavPackAudioUtility(FileInfo wavUnpack)
         /// The wav Unpack.
         /// </param>
         /// <exception cref="FileNotFoundException">
+        /// If the provided binary does not exist.
         /// </exception>
         /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">
+        /// If <paramref name="wavUnpack"/> is null.
+        /// </exception>
+        /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">
+        /// If <paramref name="wavUnpack"/> does contain the string "wavUnpack".
         /// </exception>
-        /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">wavUnpack</exception>
         public WavPackAudioUtility(FileInfo wavUnpack, DirectoryInfo temporaryFilesDirectory)
         {
             this.CheckExe(wavUnpack, "wvunpack");
@@ -128,7 +138,7 @@ protected override string ConstructModifyArgs(FileInfo source, FileInfo output,
             // only deals with start and end, does not do anything with sampling, channels or bit rate.
             if (request.OffsetStart.HasValue || request.OffsetEnd.HasValue)
             {
-              
+
                 if (request.OffsetStart.HasValue && request.OffsetStart.Value > TimeSpan.Zero)
                 {
                     sb.AppendFormat(ArgsSkip, FormatTimeSpan(request.OffsetStart.Value));
diff --git a/src/AnalysisPrograms/CheckEnvironment.cs b/src/AnalysisPrograms/CheckEnvironment.cs
index ae6c44437..310873afe 100644
--- a/src/AnalysisPrograms/CheckEnvironment.cs
+++ b/src/AnalysisPrograms/CheckEnvironment.cs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ public class CheckEnvironment
         private int Execute(Arguments arguments)
         {
             var errors = new List<string>();
+            var warnings = new List<string>();
 
             Log.Info("Checking required executables and libraries can be found and loaded");
 
@@ -49,6 +50,11 @@ private int Execute(Arguments arguments)
                 errors.Add(ex.Message);
             }
 
+            if (AppConfigHelper.WvunpackExe == null)
+            {
+                warnings.Add("Cannot find wvunpack - we'll be unable to process any wavpack files.");
+            }
+
             if (MainEntry.CheckForDataAnnotations() is string message)
             {
                 errors.Add(message);
@@ -60,6 +66,11 @@ private int Execute(Arguments arguments)
                 errors.Add($"We no longer use Mono with ${Meta.Name}. DO NOT prefix the {Meta.Name} prefix with `mono`.");
             }
 
+            foreach (var warning in warnings)
+            {
+                Log.Warn(warning);
+            }
+
             // don't have much more to check at the current time
             if (errors.Count == 0)
             {
diff --git a/tests/Acoustics.Test/Tools/MasterAudioUtilityTests.cs b/tests/Acoustics.Test/Tools/MasterAudioUtilityTests.cs
index b7bdfd851..18bc6e256 100644
--- a/tests/Acoustics.Test/Tools/MasterAudioUtilityTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Acoustics.Test/Tools/MasterAudioUtilityTests.cs
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ public void ValidatesNonExistingExePaths()
         public void ValidatesNullExePaths()
         {
             TestHelper.ExceptionMatches<ArgumentNullException>(
-                () => new FfmpegAudioUtility(null,null), "Value cannot be null");
+                () => new FfmpegAudioUtility(null, null), "Value cannot be null");
 
             //TestHelper.ExceptionMatches<ArgumentNullException>(
             //    () => new Mp3SpltAudioUtility(null), "Value cannot be null");
@@ -358,13 +358,44 @@ public void ValidatesNullExePaths()
         public void MasterAudioUtilityAllowsOptionalSupportForMp3splt()
         {
             // creation should normally fail but MasterAudioUtility was changed so that Mp3Splt was optional
-            var utility = new MasterAudioUtility(
+            new MasterAudioUtility(
                 (FfmpegAudioUtility)TestHelper.GetAudioUtilityFfmpeg(),
                 (WavPackAudioUtility)TestHelper.GetAudioUtilityWavunpack(),
                 (SoxAudioUtility)TestHelper.GetAudioUtilitySox(),
                 (FfmpegRawPcmAudioUtility)TestHelper.GetAudioUtilityFfmpegRawPcm());
         }
 
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void MasterAudioUtilityAllowsOptionalSupportFoWavPack()
+        {
+            // creation should normally fail but MasterAudioUtility was changed so that WavPack was optional
+            new MasterAudioUtility(
+                (FfmpegAudioUtility)TestHelper.GetAudioUtilityFfmpeg(),
+                null,
+                (SoxAudioUtility)TestHelper.GetAudioUtilitySox(),
+                (FfmpegRawPcmAudioUtility)TestHelper.GetAudioUtilityFfmpegRawPcm());
+        }
+
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void MasterAudioUtilityCheckRequestValidFailsWhenWavpackIsMissing()
+        {
+            var utility = new MasterAudioUtility(
+                (FfmpegAudioUtility)TestHelper.GetAudioUtilityFfmpeg(),
+                null,
+                (SoxAudioUtility)TestHelper.GetAudioUtilitySox(),
+                (FfmpegRawPcmAudioUtility)TestHelper.GetAudioUtilityFfmpegRawPcm());
+
+            var source = PathHelper.GetTestAudioFile("Raw_audio_id_cd6e8ba1-11b4-4724-9562-f6ec893110aa.wv");
+
+            Assert.ThrowsException<AudioFormatNotSupportedException>(
+                () => utility.Info(source),
+                "Converting from WavPack is not supported because we cannot find a wvunpack binary.");
+
+            Assert.ThrowsException<AudioFormatNotSupportedException>(
+                () => utility.Modify(source, MediaTypes.MediaTypeWavpack, PathHelper.GetTempFile(MediaTypes.ExtWav), MediaTypes.MediaTypeWav, new AudioUtilityRequest()),
+                "Converting from WavPack is not supported because we cannot find a wvunpack binary.");
+        }
+
         private static FileInfo GetAudioUtilityExe(string name)
         {
             var baseResourceDir = PathHelper.GetResourcesBaseDir();
@@ -498,7 +529,7 @@ private static string GetDurationInfo(AudioUtilityInfo info)
         private static void SegmentsCorrectly(
             string filename, string mimetype, TimeSpan start, TimeSpan end, TimeSpan maxVariance)
         {
-            foreach (var util in new[] { TestHelper.GetAudioUtility()})
+            foreach (var util in new[] { TestHelper.GetAudioUtility() })
             {
                 var dir = PathHelper.GetTempDir();