diff --git a/lib/torque/renderer/point.js b/lib/torque/renderer/point.js
index 081cec8..d8ee33e 100644
--- a/lib/torque/renderer/point.js
+++ b/lib/torque/renderer/point.js
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ var carto = global.carto || require('carto');
     this.setCartoCSS(this.options.cartocss || DEFAULT_CARTOCSS);
     this.TILE_SIZE = 256;
     this._icons = {};
+    this._forcePoints = false;
   }
 
   torque.extend(PointRenderer.prototype, torque.Event, {
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ var carto = global.carto || require('carto');
       ctx.translate(w/2, w/2);
 
       var img_names = this._shader.getImageURLs();
-      if(img_names.length > 0){
+      if(img_names.length > 0 && !this._forcePoints){
         if(Object.keys(this._icons).length === 0){
           for (var i = 0; i<img_names.length; i++){
             var new_img = this._createImage();
@@ -143,7 +144,9 @@ var carto = global.carto || require('carto');
               }
             };
             new_img.onerror = function(){
-
+              self._forcePoints = true;
+              self.clearSpriteCache();
+              console.error("Couldn't get marker-file " + this.src);
             };
             new_img.src = img_names[i];
           }