diff --git a/irssi.conf b/irssi.conf
index 20499e5e..628e2b5d 100644
--- a/irssi.conf
+++ b/irssi.conf
@@ -64,5 +64,5 @@ aliases = {
   CHAT = "dcc chat";
   RUN = "SCRIPT LOAD";
   UPTIME = "eval exec - expr `date +%s` - $F | awk \"{print \\\"Irssi uptime: \\\"int(\\$1/3600/24)\\\"d \\\"int(\\$1/3600%24)\\\"h \\\"int(\\$1/60%60)\\\"m \\\"int(\\$1%60)\\\"s\\\" }\"";
-  CALC = "exec - echo $* | bc | awk '{print \"$*=\"\\$1}'";
+  CALC = "exec - if which bc &>/dev/null\\; then echo '$*' | bc | awk '{print \"$*=\"$$1}'\\; else echo bc was not found\\; fi";
 };