diff --git a/voxygen/src/audio/mod.rs b/voxygen/src/audio/mod.rs
index bd33471d10..68a7cab77d 100644
--- a/voxygen/src/audio/mod.rs
+++ b/voxygen/src/audio/mod.rs
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ impl AudioFrontend {
             device: device.clone(),
             device_list: list_devices(),
             audio_device,
-            sound_cache: SoundCache::new(),
+            sound_cache: SoundCache::default(),
             music_channels: Vec::new(),
             sfx_channels,
             sfx_volume: 1.0,
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ impl AudioFrontend {
             device: "none".to_string(),
             device_list: Vec::new(),
             audio_device: None,
-            sound_cache: SoundCache::new(),
+            sound_cache: SoundCache::default(),
             music_channels: Vec::new(),
             sfx_channels: Vec::new(),
             sfx_volume: 1.0,
diff --git a/voxygen/src/audio/soundcache.rs b/voxygen/src/audio/soundcache.rs
index e9e499affc..f7672720dc 100644
--- a/voxygen/src/audio/soundcache.rs
+++ b/voxygen/src/audio/soundcache.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+//! Handles caching and retrieval of decoded `.wav` sfx sound data, eliminating
+//! the need to decode files on each playback
 use common::assets;
 use hashbrown::HashMap;
 use std::{convert::AsRef, io, io::Read, sync::Arc};
@@ -10,6 +12,7 @@ impl AsRef<[u8]> for Sound {
     fn as_ref(&self) -> &[u8] { &self.0 }
 }
 
+/// Wrapper for decoded audio data
 impl Sound {
     pub fn load(filename: &str) -> Result<Sound, assets::Error> {
         let mut file = assets::load_file(filename, &["wav"])?;
@@ -23,24 +26,37 @@ impl Sound {
     pub fn decoder(&self) -> rodio::Decoder<io::Cursor<Sound>> {
         rodio::Decoder::new(self.cursor()).unwrap()
     }
+
+    /// Returns a `Sound` containing empty .wav data. This intentionally doesn't
+    /// load from the filesystem so we have a reliable fallback when there
+    /// is a failure to read a file.
+    ///
+    /// The data below is the result of passing a very short, silent .wav file
+    /// to `Sound::load()`.
+    pub fn empty() -> Sound {
+        Sound(Arc::new(vec![
+            82, 73, 70, 70, 40, 0, 0, 0, 87, 65, 86, 69, 102, 109, 116, 32, 16, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1,
+            0, 68, 172, 0, 0, 136, 88, 1, 0, 2, 0, 16, 0, 100, 97, 116, 97, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,
+        ]))
+    }
 }
 
+#[derive(Default)]
 pub struct SoundCache {
     sounds: HashMap<String, Sound>,
 }
 
 impl SoundCache {
-    #[allow(clippy::new_without_default)] // TODO: Pending review in #587
-    pub fn new() -> Self {
-        Self {
-            sounds: HashMap::new(),
-        }
-    }
-
     pub fn load_sound(&mut self, name: &str) -> rodio::Decoder<io::Cursor<Sound>> {
         self.sounds
             .entry(name.to_string())
-            .or_insert(Sound::load(name).unwrap())
+            .or_insert_with(|| {
+                Sound::load(name).unwrap_or_else(|_| {
+                    log::warn!("SoundCache: Failed to load sound: {}", name);
+
+                    Sound::empty()
+                })
+            })
             .decoder()
     }
 }