diff --git a/patroni/config.py b/patroni/config.py
index 401285b0..45d2391f 100644
--- a/patroni/config.py
+++ b/patroni/config.py
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ class Config(object):
 
         :raises:
             :class:`ConfigParseError`: if *path* is invalid.
+            :class:`ConfigParseError`: if *path* does not contain dict (empty file or no mapping values).
         """
         if os.path.isfile(path):
             files = [path]
@@ -202,7 +203,10 @@ class Config(object):
         for fname in files:
             with open(fname) as f:
                 config = yaml.safe_load(f)
-                patch_config(overall_config, config)
+                if not isinstance(config, dict):
+                    logger.error('%s does not contain a dict', fname)
+                    raise ConfigParseError(f'invalid config file {fname}')
+                patch_config(overall_config, cast(Dict[Any, Any], config))
         return overall_config
 
     def _load_config_file(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index 5a14eec4..13e2febd 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -158,6 +158,35 @@ class TestConfig(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_invalid_path(self):
         self.assertRaises(ConfigParseError, Config, 'postgres0')
 
+    @patch('os.path.exists', Mock(return_value=True))
+    @patch('os.path.isfile', Mock(side_effect=lambda fname: fname != 'postgres0'))
+    @patch('os.path.isdir', Mock(return_value=True))
+    @patch('os.listdir', Mock(return_value=['00-empty.yml', '00-base.yml']))
+    @patch('patroni.config.logger')
+    def test_invalid_empty_config_file(self, mock_logger):
+        def open_mock(fname, *args, **kwargs):
+            if fname.endswith('00-base.yml'):
+                return io.StringIO(
+                    u'''
+                    test: True
+                    test2:
+                      child-1: somestring
+                      child-2: 5
+                      child-3: False
+                    test3: True
+                    test4:
+                     - abc: 3
+                     - abc: 4
+                    ''')
+            elif fname.endswith('00-empty.yml'):
+                return io.StringIO(u'''---''')
+
+        with patch('builtins.open', MagicMock(side_effect=open_mock)):
+            self.assertRaises(ConfigParseError, Config, 'postgres0')
+            mock_logger.error.assert_called_once_with(
+                '%s does not contain a dict',
+                'postgres0\\00-empty.yml' if sys.platform == 'win32' else 'postgres0/00-empty.yml')
+
     @patch.object(Config, 'get')
     @patch('patroni.config.logger')
     def test__validate_tags(self, mock_logger, mock_get):