diff --git a/.config/emacs/init.org b/.config/emacs/init.org
index 31ea245..b207989 100644
--- a/.config/emacs/init.org
+++ b/.config/emacs/init.org
@@ -1457,8 +1457,12 @@ These are functions to load a project specific file given the conventions I use.
 #+begin_src emacs-lisp
 (defun joe/project-open-project-file (FILENAME)
   (when (project-current)
-    (let ((proj-dir (project-root (project-current t))))
-      (find-file-other-window (expand-file-name FILENAME proj-dir)))))
+    (let* ((proj-dir (project-root (project-current t)))
+           (file-path (expand-file-name FILENAME proj-dir)))
+      (if (file-exists-p file-path)
+          (find-file-other-window (expand-file-name FILENAME proj-dir))
+        (when (get-buffer FILENAME)
+          (switch-to-buffer (get-buffer FILENAME)))))))
 
 (defun joe/project-open-project-todo ()
   (interactive)