diff --git a/scripts/util.sh b/scripts/util.sh
index 0694f99..d9b95aa 100644
--- a/scripts/util.sh
+++ b/scripts/util.sh
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ __resh_run_daemon() {
 }
 
 __resh_bash_completion_init() {
+    # primitive check to find out if bash_completions are installed
+    # skip completion init if they are not
+    _get_comp_words_by_ref >/dev/null 2>dev/null || return
     local bash_completion_dir=~/.resh/bash_completion.d
     # source user completion directory definitions
     # taken from /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion