diff --git a/matlab/CalcNF2FF.m b/matlab/CalcNF2FF.m
index e5868ae..c0e233b 100644
--- a/matlab/CalcNF2FF.m
+++ b/matlab/CalcNF2FF.m
@@ -87,12 +87,14 @@ m_filename = mfilename('fullpath');
 dir_name = fileparts( m_filename );
 
 if isunix
-    % <openEMS-path> could be /usr or ~/opt/openEMS etc.
-    % assume this file to be in  '<openEMS-path>/share/openEMS/matlab/'
-    % assume openEMS binary to be in '<openEMS-path>/bin'
-    openEMS_Path = [dir_name filesep '../../../bin' filesep];
+    % try development path
+    nf2ff_bin = [dir_name filesep '../nf2ff' filesep 'nf2ff'];
+    if (~exist(nf2ff_bin,'file'))
+        % fallback to install path
+        nf2ff_bin = [dir_name filesep '../../../bin' filesep 'nf2ff'];
+    end
 else
-    openEMS_Path = [dir_name filesep '..' filesep];
+    nf2ff_bin = [dir_name filesep '..' filesep nf2ff.exe];
 end
 
 if ((exist(nf2ff.hdf5,'file') && (mode==0)) || (mode==2))
@@ -110,13 +112,15 @@ savePath = pwd;
 cd(Sim_Path);
 
 try
+    if (~exist(nf2ff_bin,'file'))
+        error('openEMS:CalcNF2FF',['Binary not found: ' nf2ff_bin]);
+    end
     if isunix
         % remove LD_LIBRARY_PATH set by matlab
-        system(['export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=; ' openEMS_Path 'nf2ff ' filename '.xml']);
+        system(['export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=; ' nf2ff_bin ' ' filename '.xml']);
     else
-        system([openEMS_Path 'nf2ff.exe ' filename '.xml']);
+        system([nf2ff_bin ' ' filename '.xml']);
     end
-
     nf2ff.hdf5;
     cd(savePath);
 catch
diff --git a/matlab/private/invoke_openEMS.m b/matlab/private/invoke_openEMS.m
index 24bba3f..30c3a0c 100644
--- a/matlab/private/invoke_openEMS.m
+++ b/matlab/private/invoke_openEMS.m
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ function invoke_openEMS( opts, logfile, silent )
 %
 % openEMS matlab interface
 % -----------------------
-% author: Sebastian Held
+% author: Sebastian Held, Thorsten Liebig
 
 if nargin < 1
     error 'specify the xml file to simulate'
@@ -23,27 +23,26 @@ if (nargin < 2) || isempty(logfile)
     end
 end
 
-% opts = [opts ' --disable-dumps'];
-% opts = [opts ' --debug-material'];
-% opts = [opts ' --debug-boxes'];
-% opts = [opts ' --engine=sse'];
-% opts = [opts ' --engine=multithreaded'];
-
 filename = mfilename('fullpath');
 dir = fileparts( filename );
 
 if isunix
-    % <openEMS-path> could be /usr or ~/opt/openEMS etc.
-    % assume this file to be in  '<openEMS-path>/share/openEMS/matlab/private/'
-    % assume openEMS binary to be in '<openEMS-path>/bin'
-    openEMS_Path = [dir filesep '../../../../bin' filesep];
-    openEMS_Path = [openEMS_Path 'openEMS.sh'];
+    % try development path
+    openEMS_bin = [dir filesep '../..' filesep 'openEMS.sh'];
+    if (~exist(openEMS_bin,'file'))
+        % fallback to install path
+        openEMS_bin = [dir filesep '../../../../bin' filesep 'openEMS.sh'];
+    end
 else
-    openEMS_Path = [dir filesep '../..' filesep];
-    openEMS_Path = [openEMS_Path 'openEMS'];
+    openEMS_bin = [dir filesep '../..' filesep];
+    openEMS_bin = [openEMS_bin 'openEMS'];
 end
 
-command = [openEMS_Path ' ' opts];
+if (~exist(openEMS_bin,'file'))
+    error('openEMS:invoke_openEMS',['Binary not found: ' openEMS_bin]);
+end
+
+command = [openEMS_bin ' ' opts];
 
 if ~silent
     if (isunix && nargin>1)
@@ -53,7 +52,4 @@ else
     command = [command ' > ' logfile ' 2>&1'];
 end
 
-% if ~silent
-%     disp( ['invoking openEMS simulator: ' command] );
-% end
 system(command);