diff --git a/mail/.config/imapfilter/config.lua b/mail/.config/imapfilter/config.lua
index aa6df60..a09e6ac 100644
--- a/mail/.config/imapfilter/config.lua
+++ b/mail/.config/imapfilter/config.lua
@@ -12,7 +12,20 @@ options.subscribe = true
 -- How long to wait for servers response.
 options.timeout = 120
 
-accounts = loadfile(os.getenv("HOME") .. "/.config/imapfilter/accounts.lua")()
+-- will set filters to be grabbed from XDG-compliant filter directory
+-- can be overridden with env var IMAPFILTER_FILTERDIR
+function getConfigDir()
+  -- -- set directory for imapfilter files
+  local configdir
+  if os.getenv("IMAPFILTER_CONFIGDIR") then
+    configdir=os.getenv("IMAPFILTER_CONFIGDIR")
+  elseif os.getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") then
+    configdir=os.getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") .. "/imapfilter"
+  else
+    configdir=os.getenv("HOME") .. "/.config/imapfilter"
+  end
+  return configdir
+end
 
 -- will set filters to be grabbed from XDG-compliant filter directory
 -- can be overridden with env var IMAPFILTER_FILTERDIR
@@ -21,21 +34,26 @@ function getFilterDir()
   local imapfilterdir
   if os.getenv("IMAPFILTER_FILTERDIR") then
     imapfilterdir=os.getenv("IMAPFILTER_FILTERDIR")
-  elseif os.getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") then
-    imapfilterdir=os.getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") .. "/imapfilter/filters"
   else
-    imapfilterdir=os.getenv("HOME") .. "/.config/imapfilter/filters"
+    imapfilterdir=configDir .. "/filters"
   end
   return imapfilterdir
 end
 
-local filters = {}
 -- dirlist, from https://stackoverflow.com/a/25266573
 function applyFilters(dir)
-  local p = io.popen('find "'..dir..'" -type f')   --Open directory look for files, save data in p. By giving '-type f' as parameter, it returns all files.
+  local p = io.popen('find "'..dir..'" -type f -name "*.lua"')   --Open directory look for files, save data in p. By giving '-type f' as parameter, it returns all files.
   for file in p:lines() do                         --Loop through all files
     loadfile(file)()
   end
 end
 
+-- create global variable containing the configuration files
+configDir=getConfigDir()
+assert(configDir, "No configuration directory found. Ensure " .. os.getenv("HOME") .. "/.config/imapfilter exists.")
+
+-- create global variable containing account access
+accounts = loadfile(configDir .. "/accounts.lua")()
+assert(accounts, "No accounts configured. Ensure accounts.lua exists and returns a table of accounts.")
+
 applyFilters(getFilterDir())