diff --git a/frigate/app.py b/frigate/app.py
index 3c173a37a..d0d5b76c7 100644
--- a/frigate/app.py
+++ b/frigate/app.py
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ from frigate.stats.util import stats_init
 from frigate.storage import StorageMaintainer
 from frigate.timeline import TimelineProcessor
 from frigate.types import CameraMetricsTypes, PTZMetricsTypes
+from frigate.util.builtin import save_default_config
 from frigate.util.object import get_camera_regions_grid
 from frigate.version import VERSION
 from frigate.video import capture_camera, track_camera
@@ -120,6 +121,11 @@ class FrigateApp:
         if os.path.isfile(config_file_yaml):
             config_file = config_file_yaml
 
+        if not os.path.isfile(config_file):
+            print("No config file found, saving default config")
+            config_file = config_file_yaml
+            save_default_config(config_file)
+
         user_config = FrigateConfig.parse_file(config_file)
         self.config = user_config.runtime_config(self.plus_api)
 
diff --git a/frigate/util/builtin.py b/frigate/util/builtin.py
index 556b91ede..be91421f9 100644
--- a/frigate/util/builtin.py
+++ b/frigate/util/builtin.py
@@ -281,6 +281,32 @@ def find_by_key(dictionary, target_key):
     return None
 
 
+def save_default_config(location: str):
+    try:
+        with open(location, "w") as f:
+            f.write(
+                """
+mqtt:
+  enabled: False
+
+cameras:
+  name_of_your_camera: # <------ Name the camera
+    enabled: True
+    ffmpeg:
+      inputs:
+        - path: rtsp://10.0.10.10:554/rtsp # <----- The stream you want to use for detection
+          roles:
+            - detect
+    detect:
+      enabled: False # <---- disable detection until you have a working camera feed
+      width: 1280
+      height: 720
+                    """
+            )
+    except PermissionError:
+        logger.error("Unable to write default config to /config")
+
+
 def get_tomorrow_at_time(hour: int) -> datetime.datetime:
     """Returns the datetime of the following day at 2am."""
     try: