diff --git a/src/twn_textures.c b/src/twn_textures.c
index d4c69e3..6093d65 100644
--- a/src/twn_textures.c
+++ b/src/twn_textures.c
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ static int load_read_callback(void *user, char *data, int size) {
     int read = (int)SDL_RWread(context->rwops, data, 1, size);
     context->position += read;
     if (read == 0)
-        CRY_SDL( "Error in streamed texture load.");
+        CRY_SDL("Error in streamed texture load.");
     return read;
 }
 
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ static SDL_Surface *gen_missing_texture_surface(void) {
 
 
 SDL_Surface *textures_load_surface(const char *path) {
+    if (SDL_strncmp(path, "!", 1) == 0)
+        goto GET_MISSING_TEXTURE;
+
     SDL_RWops *handle = PHYSFSRWOPS_openRead(path);
     if (handle == NULL)
         goto ERR_CANNOT_OPEN_FILE;
@@ -133,6 +136,7 @@ ERR_CANNOT_READ_IMAGE:
 ERR_CANNOT_OPEN_FILE:
     /* something didn't worked out, use a stub texture */
     log_warn("Cannot open image: %s, using a stub", path);
+GET_MISSING_TEXTURE:
     return gen_missing_texture_surface();
 }
 
@@ -465,7 +469,7 @@ void textures_update_atlas(TextureCache *cache) {
 
 TextureKey textures_get_key(TextureCache *cache, const char *path) {
     /* to prevent hashing errors */
-    if (!path) path = "";
+    if (!path) path = "!";
 
     /* hash tables are assumed to be stable, so we just return indices */
     const ptrdiff_t texture = shgeti(cache->hash, path);