diff --git a/engine/scene/sceneLoaderDeserializeJSON.cpp b/engine/scene/sceneLoaderDeserializeJSON.cpp
index 7bdc98b7..2879254c 100644
--- a/engine/scene/sceneLoaderDeserializeJSON.cpp
+++ b/engine/scene/sceneLoaderDeserializeJSON.cpp
@@ -143,7 +143,13 @@ namespace GfxRenderEngine
                         m_SceneDescriptionFile.m_GltfFiles.m_GltfFilesFromScene;
                     for (auto& gltfInfo : gltfInfoVector)
                     {
-                        if (!gltfInfo.m_LoadFuture.get())
+                        if (!gltfInfo.m_LoadFuture.has_value())
+                        {
+                            // file was not loaded (probably not found on disk)
+                            continue;
+                        }
+                        auto& loadFuture = gltfInfo.m_LoadFuture.value();
+                        if (!loadFuture.get())
                         {
                             LOG_CORE_CRITICAL("gltf file did not load properly: {0}", gltfInfo.m_GltfFile.m_Filename);
                             continue;
@@ -212,7 +218,7 @@ namespace GfxRenderEngine
                     LOG_CORE_INFO("loading {0} gltf files (fastgltf)", gltfFileCount);
                 }
 
-                std::vector<GltfInfo> gltfInfoVector;
+                std::vector<GltfInfo> gltfInfoVector{};
                 gltfInfoVector.resize(gltfFileCount);
 
                 {
@@ -230,7 +236,13 @@ namespace GfxRenderEngine
 
                     for (auto& gltfInfo : gltfInfoVector)
                     {
-                        if (!gltfInfo.m_LoadFuture.get())
+                        if (!gltfInfo.m_LoadFuture.has_value())
+                        {
+                            // file was not loaded (probably not found on disk)
+                            continue;
+                        }
+                        auto& loadFuture = gltfInfo.m_LoadFuture.value();
+                        if (!loadFuture.get())
                         {
                             LOG_CORE_CRITICAL("gltf file did not load properly: {0}", gltfInfo.m_GltfFile.m_Filename);
                             continue;
@@ -749,7 +761,13 @@ namespace GfxRenderEngine
     {
         for (auto& terrainInfo : m_TerrainInfos)
         {
-            if (!terrainInfo.m_LoadFuture.get())
+            if (!terrainInfo.m_LoadFuture.has_value())
+            {
+                // file was not loaded (probably not found on disk)
+                continue;
+            }
+            auto& loadFuture = terrainInfo.m_LoadFuture.value();
+            if (!loadFuture.get())
             {
                 continue;
             }
diff --git a/engine/scene/sceneLoaderJSON.h b/engine/scene/sceneLoaderJSON.h
index f5d9d7dc..3067e0f0 100644
--- a/engine/scene/sceneLoaderJSON.h
+++ b/engine/scene/sceneLoaderJSON.h
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ namespace GfxRenderEngine
 
         struct GltfInfo
         {
-            std::future<bool> m_LoadFuture;
+            std::optional<std::future<bool>> m_LoadFuture{std::nullopt};
             Gltf::GltfFile m_GltfFile;
             int m_InstanceCount{0};
             std::vector<TransformComponent> m_InstanceTransforms;
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ namespace GfxRenderEngine
 
         struct TerrainInfo
         {
-            std::future<bool> m_LoadFuture;
+            std::optional<std::future<bool>> m_LoadFuture{std::nullopt};
             std::string m_Filename;
             int m_InstanceCount{0};
             std::vector<TransformComponent> m_InstanceTransforms;