diff --git a/lib/modloader.dart b/lib/modloader.dart
index 2f89812..8a4dca7 100644
--- a/lib/modloader.dart
+++ b/lib/modloader.dart
@@ -6,6 +6,19 @@ const modsRoot = '$root/294100';
 const configRoot = '$root/AppData/RimWorld by Ludeon Studios/Config';
 const configPath = '$configRoot/ModsConfig.xml';
 
+XmlElement findCaseInsensitive(XmlElement element, String name) {
+  return element.childElements.firstWhere(
+    (e) => e.name.local.toLowerCase() == name,
+  );
+}
+
+XmlElement findCaseInsensitiveDoc(XmlDocument document, String name) {
+    name = name.toLowerCase();
+  return document.childElements.firstWhere(
+    (e) => e.name.local.toLowerCase() == name,
+  );
+}
+
 class Mod {
   final String name; // ModMetaData.name
   final String id; // ModMetaData.packageId
@@ -35,18 +48,59 @@ class Mod {
 
   static Mod fromDirectory(String path) {
     final aboutFile = File('$path/About/About.xml');
+    if (!aboutFile.existsSync()) {
+      throw Exception('About.xml file does not exist in $aboutFile');
+    }
     final aboutXml = XmlDocument.parse(aboutFile.readAsStringSync());
-    final metadata = aboutXml.findElements('ModMetaData').first;
-    final name = metadata.findElements('name').first.innerText;
-    final id = metadata.findElements('packageId').first.innerText.toLowerCase();
-    final versions =
-        metadata
-            .findElements('supportedVersions')
-            .first
-            .findElements('li')
-            .map((e) => e.innerText)
-            .toList();
-    final description = metadata.findElements('description').first.innerText;
+
+    late final XmlElement metadata;
+    try {
+      metadata = findCaseInsensitiveDoc(aboutXml, 'ModMetaData');
+    } catch (e) {
+      throw Exception(
+        'Error: ModMetaData element is missing in About.xml ($aboutFile). Original error: $e',
+      );
+    }
+
+    late final String name;
+    try {
+      name = metadata.findElements('name').first.innerText;
+    } catch (e) {
+      throw Exception(
+        'Error: name element is missing in ModMetaData ($aboutFile). Original error: $e',
+      );
+    }
+
+    late final String id;
+    try {
+      id = metadata.findElements('packageId').first.innerText.toLowerCase();
+    } catch (e) {
+      throw Exception(
+        'Error: packageId element is missing in ModMetaData ($aboutFile). Original error: $e',
+      );
+    }
+
+    late final List<String> versions;
+    try {
+      versions =
+          metadata
+              .findElements('supportedVersions')
+              .first
+              .findElements('li')
+              .map((e) => e.innerText)
+              .toList();
+    } catch (e) {
+      throw Exception(
+        'Error: supportedVersions or li elements are missing in ModMetaData ($aboutFile). Original error: $e',
+      );
+    }
+
+    String description = '';
+    try {
+      description = metadata.findElements('description').first.innerText;
+    } catch (e) {
+      print('$name has no description');
+    }
 
     List<String> hardDependencies = [];
     try {