diff --git a/companion/src/firmwares/edgetx/edgetxinterface.cpp b/companion/src/firmwares/edgetx/edgetxinterface.cpp
index f1f1a0c91..4b86a17d7 100644
--- a/companion/src/firmwares/edgetx/edgetxinterface.cpp
+++ b/companion/src/firmwares/edgetx/edgetxinterface.cpp
@@ -51,34 +51,27 @@ bool loadModelsListFromYaml(std::vector<CategoryData>& categories,
   if (data.size() == 0)
     return true;
 
-  try {
-    YAML::Node node = loadYamlFromByteArray(data);
-    if (!node.IsSequence()) return false;
+  YAML::Node node = loadYamlFromByteArray(data);
+  if (!node.IsSequence()) return false;
 
-    int modelIdx = 0;
-    for (const auto& cat : node) {
+  int modelIdx = 0;
+  for (const auto& cat : node) {
+    if (!cat.IsMap()) continue;
 
-      if (!cat.IsMap()) continue;
+    for (const auto& cat_map : cat) {
+      categories.push_back(cat_map.first.Scalar().c_str());
 
-      for (const auto& cat_map : cat) {
-        categories.push_back(cat_map.first.Scalar().c_str());
+      const auto& models = cat_map.second;
+      if (!models.IsSequence()) continue;
 
-        const auto& models = cat_map.second;
-        if (!models.IsSequence()) continue;
-
-        for (const auto& model : models) {
-          std::string filename, name;
-          model["filename"] >> filename;
-          model["name"] >> name;
-          modelFiles.push_back(
-              {filename, name, (int)categories.size() - 1, modelIdx++});
-        }
+      for (const auto& model : models) {
+        std::string filename, name;
+        model["filename"] >> filename;
+        model["name"] >> name;
+        modelFiles.push_back(
+            {filename, name, (int)categories.size() - 1, modelIdx++});
       }
     }
-
-  } catch (const std::runtime_error& e) {
-    qDebug() << "YAML::ParserException: " << e.what();
-    return false;
   }
 
   return true;
diff --git a/companion/src/storage/categorized.cpp b/companion/src/storage/categorized.cpp
index 4c3caf7c2..5fc59c417 100644
--- a/companion/src/storage/categorized.cpp
+++ b/companion/src/storage/categorized.cpp
@@ -254,9 +254,34 @@ bool CategorizedStorageFormat::loadYaml(RadioData & radioData)
 
   QByteArray modelslistBuffer;
   if (loadFile(modelslistBuffer, "MODELS/models.yml")) {
-    if (!loadModelsListFromYaml(radioData.categories, modelFiles, modelslistBuffer)) {
-      setError(tr("Can't load MODELS/models.yml"));
-      return false;
+    try {
+      if (!loadModelsListFromYaml(radioData.categories, modelFiles, modelslistBuffer)) {
+        setError(tr("Can't load MODELS/models.yml"));
+        return false;
+      }
+    } catch(const std::runtime_error& e) {
+      setError(tr("Can't load MODELS/models.yml") + ":\n" + QString(e.what()));
+      //return false;
+
+      //TODO: fall back to directory scan
+      std::list<std::string> filelist;
+      if (!getFileList(filelist)) {
+        return false;
+      }
+
+      // push default category
+      radioData.categories.push_back("Models");
+
+      const std::regex yml_regex("MODELS/(model[0-9]+\\.yml)");
+      for(const auto& f : filelist) {
+        std::smatch match;
+        if (std::regex_match(f, match, yml_regex)) {
+          if (match.size() == 2) {
+            std::ssub_match modelFile = match[1];
+            modelFiles.push_back({ modelFile.str(), "", 0, 0 });
+          }
+        }
+      }
     }
   } else {
     // fetch "MODELS/modelXX.yml"