diff --git a/colab/utils/conf.py b/colab/utils/conf.py
index 6613de6..ad2d068 100644
--- a/colab/utils/conf.py
+++ b/colab/utils/conf.py
@@ -151,12 +151,11 @@ def load_widgets_settings():
     if not os.path.exists(py_path):
         return
 
-    if not os.path.exists(settings_file):
-        return
-
     original_path = sys.path
     sys.path.append(py_path)
-    importlib.import_module(settings_module)
+
+    if os.path.exists(settings_file):
+        importlib.import_module(settings_module)
 
     # Read settings from widgets.d
     settings_dir = os.getenv('COLAB_WIDGETS', '/etc/colab/widgets.d')
--
libgit2 0.21.2