diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7b9840a..199f211 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -289,6 +289,9 @@ See [bench/README](bench).
 
 ## Changes
 
+1.1.3
+ - temporary fix for #19 issue with npm@5
+ 
 1.1.2
  - Fix DeprecationWarning for node 7.x (1.1.1)
  - Fix occasional error for large offsets during seek
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5cf2798..c5c731f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "wordpos",
+  "version": "1.1.3",
+  "description": "wordpos is a set of part-of-speech utilities for Node.js using the WordNet database.",
   "author": "Moos <mooster@42at.com>",
   "keywords": [
     "natural",
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@
     "adverbs",
     "verbs"
   ],
-  "description": "wordpos is a set of part-of-speech utilities for Node.js using the WordNet database.",
-  "version": "1.1.2",
   "homepage": "https://github.com/moos/wordpos",
   "engines": {
     "node": ">=0.12"
diff --git a/tools/stat.js b/tools/stat.js
index e045ae7..25fcd69 100644
--- a/tools/stat.js
+++ b/tools/stat.js
@@ -40,18 +40,43 @@
  *      read index file between the two offsets
  *  	binary search read data O(log avg)
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2012-2016 mooster@42at.com
+ * Copyright (c) 2012-2017 mooster@42at.com
  * https://github.com/moos/wordpos
  *
  * Released under MIT license
  */
+
+var
+  fs = require('fs'),
+  path = require('path'),
+  dictPath = path.resolve(__dirname, '..', 'node_modules', 'wordnet-db', 'dict');
+
+
+// TEMP fix for https://github.com/moos/wordpos/issues/19
+// Ensure /dict file before continuing
+var timer = setInterval(check, 750);
+var tries = 10;
+process.stdout.write('checking ' + dictPath);
+function check() {
+  if (fs.existsSync(dictPath)) {
+      clearInterval(timer);
+      process.stdout.write(' ready\n');
+      main();
+  } else if (--tries <= 0) {
+      console.log('\n%s not ready -- see https://github.com/moos/wordpos/issues/19.  Abandoning!', dictPath)
+      process.exit(1);
+  }
+  process.stdout.write(' ' + tries);
+}
+
+
+function main() {
+
 var
   WNdb = require('../src/wordpos').WNdb,
   util = require('util'),
   BufferedReader = require ('./buffered-reader'),
   _ = require('underscore')._,
-  fs = require('fs'),
-  path = require('path'),
   KEY_LENGTH = 3,
   stats = true,
   eofKey = '_EOF_'; // should be unique
@@ -62,6 +87,7 @@ if (process.argv.length < 3) {
   process.exit(1);
 }
 
+
 _(process.argv.slice(2)).filter(function(arg){
   // disable writing stats file
   if (arg == '--no-stats') {
@@ -153,3 +179,5 @@ _(process.argv.slice(2)).filter(function(arg){
     })
     .read();
 });
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file