diff --git a/modules/kubernetes/client.go b/modules/kubernetes/client.go
index 78c64d47..db7c1ea0 100644
--- a/modules/kubernetes/client.go
+++ b/modules/kubernetes/client.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var kubeClient *clientInstance
+var kubeError error
 var clientOnce sync.Once
 
 type clientInstance struct {
@@ -17,26 +18,30 @@ type clientInstance struct {
 }
 
 // getInstance returns a Kubernetes interface for a clientset
-func (widget *Widget) getInstance() *clientInstance {
+func (widget *Widget) getInstance() (*clientInstance, error) {
 	clientOnce.Do(func() {
 		if kubeClient == nil {
+			client, err := widget.getKubeClient()
+			if err != nil {
+				kubeError = err
+			}
 			kubeClient = &clientInstance{
-				Client: widget.getKubeClient(),
+				Client: client,
 			}
 		}
 	})
-	return kubeClient
+	return kubeClient, kubeError
 }
 
 // getKubeClient returns a kubernetes clientset for the kubeconfig provided
-func (widget *Widget) getKubeClient() kubernetes.Interface {
+func (widget *Widget) getKubeClient() (kubernetes.Interface, error) {
 	config, err := clientcmd.BuildConfigFromFlags("", widget.kubeconfig)
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	clientset, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(config)
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+		return nil, err
 	}
-	return clientset
+	return clientset, nil
 }
diff --git a/modules/kubernetes/widget.go b/modules/kubernetes/widget.go
index a52865e3..2120e89d 100644
--- a/modules/kubernetes/widget.go
+++ b/modules/kubernetes/widget.go
@@ -41,7 +41,12 @@ func NewWidget(app *tview.Application, settings *Settings) *Widget {
 // Refresh executes the command and updates the view with the results
 func (widget *Widget) Refresh() {
 	title := widget.generateTitle()
-	client := widget.getInstance()
+	client, err := widget.getInstance()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		widget.Redraw(func() (string, string, bool) { return title, err.Error(), true })
+		return
+	}
 
 	var content string