diff --git a/src/helpers.php b/src/helpers.php
index c03c3af..325d770 100644
--- a/src/helpers.php
+++ b/src/helpers.php
@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@ function setting($key, $default = '', $setting_name = 'site')
     {
         if ( ! config()->get($setting_name)) {
             // Decode the settings to an associative array.
-            $site_settings = json_decode(file_get_contents(storage_path("/administrator_settings/$setting_name.json")), true);
+            $file_path = storage_path("/administrator_settings/$setting_name.json");
+            if (file_exists($file_path)) {
+                $site_settings = json_decode(file_get_contents($file_path), true);
+            } else {
+                $site_settings = [];
+            }
             // Add the site settings to the application configuration
             config()->set($setting_name, $site_settings);
         }
@@ -21,7 +26,12 @@ function admin_setting($key, $default = '', $setting_name = 'site')
     {
         if ( ! config()->get($setting_name)) {
             // Decode the settings to an associative array.
-            $site_settings = json_decode(file_get_contents(storage_path("/administrator_settings/$setting_name.json")), true);
+            $file_path = storage_path("/administrator_settings/$setting_name.json");
+            if (file_exists($file_path)) {
+                $site_settings = json_decode(file_get_contents($file_path), true);
+            } else {
+                $site_settings = [];
+            }
             // Add the site settings to the application configuration
             config()->set($setting_name, $site_settings);
         }