diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/StyleSheet.java b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/StyleSheet.java
index f34b19e..db1147f 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/StyleSheet.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/StyleSheet.java
@@ -44,12 +44,18 @@ public class StyleSheet extends HttpServlet
     ServletContext ctxt = getServletContext();
     RenderData rdat = RenderConfig.createRenderData(ctxt,request,response);
     String stylesheet = Variables.getStyleSheetData(ctxt,rdat);
-    response.setContentType("text/css");
-    response.setContentLength(stylesheet.length());
-    PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
-    out.write(stylesheet);
-    out.flush();
-    response.flushBuffer();
+    if (stylesheet!=null)
+    { // send back the stylesheet
+      response.setContentType("text/css");
+      response.setContentLength(stylesheet.length());
+      PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
+      out.write(stylesheet);
+      out.flush();
+      response.flushBuffer();
+
+    } // end if
+    else  // no stylesheet data
+      response.sendError(HttpServletResponse.SC_NOT_FOUND,"stylesheets not enabled");
 
   } // end doGet
 
diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/Variables.java b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/Variables.java
index cef3412..f62325b 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/Variables.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/Variables.java
@@ -329,6 +329,8 @@ public class Variables
 
   public static String getStyleSheetData(ServletContext ctxt, RenderData rdat) throws IOException
   {
+    if (!(rdat.useStyleSheet()))
+      return null;
     String data = null;
     SoftReference r = (SoftReference)(ctxt.getAttribute(STYLESHEET_ATTRIBUTE));
     if (r!=null)
diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/RenderConfig.java b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/RenderConfig.java
index fa17121..88878d0 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/RenderConfig.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/RenderConfig.java
@@ -136,26 +136,25 @@ public class RenderConfig implements ColorSelectors
       logger.debug("Font face: " + font_face);
 
     String stylesheet_loc = render_sect_h.getSubElementText("stylesheet");
-    if (stylesheet_loc==null)
-    { // no <stylesheet/> tag - bail out now!
-      logger.fatal("<rendering/> section has no <stylesheet/> element");
-      throw new ConfigException("no <stylesheet/> found in <rendering/> section",render_sect);
-
-    } // end if
-
-    if (!(stylesheet_loc.startsWith("/")))
-      stylesheet_loc = root_file_path + stylesheet_loc;
-    if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
-      logger.debug("Stylesheet location: " + stylesheet_loc);
-
-    // Test to make sure the stylesheet is actually present.
-    stylesheet = new File(stylesheet_loc);
-    if (!(stylesheet.exists() && stylesheet.canRead()))
-    { // it's not there - bail out!
-      logger.fatal("unable to read stylesheet file: " + stylesheet_loc);
-      throw new ConfigException("stylesheet " + stylesheet_loc + " cannot be read",render_sect);
+    if (stylesheet_loc!=null)
+    { // we're using Cascading Stylesheets - load it and test for existence
+      if (!(stylesheet_loc.startsWith("/")))
+	stylesheet_loc = root_file_path + stylesheet_loc;
+      if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	logger.debug("Stylesheet location: " + stylesheet_loc);
+
+      // Test to make sure the stylesheet is actually present.
+      stylesheet = new File(stylesheet_loc);
+      if (!(stylesheet.exists() && stylesheet.canRead()))
+      { // it's not there - bail out!
+	logger.fatal("unable to read stylesheet file: " + stylesheet_loc);
+	throw new ConfigException("stylesheet " + stylesheet_loc + " cannot be read",render_sect);
+
+      } // end if
 
     } // end if
+    else  // no stylesheet
+      stylesheet = null;
 
     Element colors_sect = render_sect_h.getSubElement("colors");
     if (colors_sect==null)
@@ -554,6 +553,9 @@ public class RenderConfig implements ColorSelectors
 
   synchronized String loadStyleSheetData() throws IOException
   {
+    if (stylesheet==null)
+      return null;
+
     // Load the stylesheet data.
     StringBuffer raw_data = IOUtil.loadText(stylesheet);
     stylesheet_time = stylesheet.lastModified();
@@ -588,10 +590,18 @@ public class RenderConfig implements ColorSelectors
 
   boolean hasStyleSheetChanged()
   {
+    if (stylesheet==null)
+      return false;
     return (stylesheet_time!=stylesheet.lastModified());
 
   } // end hasStyleSheetChanged
 
+  boolean useStyleSheet()
+  {
+    return (stylesheet!=null);
+
+  } // end useStyleSheet
+
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Static operations for use by VeniceServlet
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/RenderData.java b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/RenderData.java
index be9f941..9ff4e58 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/RenderData.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/RenderData.java
@@ -318,6 +318,12 @@ public class RenderData implements ColorSelectors
 
   } // end hasStyleSheetChanged
 
+  public boolean useStyleSheet()
+  {
+    return rconf.useStyleSheet();
+
+  } // end useStyleSheet
+
   public String formatDateForDisplay(Date date)
   {
     if (display_date==null)
diff --git a/web/format/base.jsp b/web/format/base.jsp
index c9f7f29..cbea91c 100644
--- a/web/format/base.jsp
+++ b/web/format/base.jsp
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@
 <HEAD>
   <%= rdat.getTitleTag(basedat.getTitle(rdat)) %>
   <%= rdat.getStdBaseFontTag(3) %>
-  <LINK REL="stylesheet" HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("stylesheet") %>" TYPE="text/css">
+  <% if (rdat.useStyleSheet()) { %>
+    <LINK REL="stylesheet" HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("stylesheet") %>" TYPE="text/css">
+  <% } // end if %>
   <% if (rdat.noSmartTags()) { %>
     <META NAME="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" CONTENT="TRUE">
   <% } // end if %>