diff --git a/conlite/includes/functions.php73.php b/conlite/includes/functions.php73.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..672d016
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conlite/includes/functions.php73.php
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<?php
+if (!function_exists('is_countable')) {
+    function is_countable($var) {
+        return (is_array($var) || $var instanceof Countable);
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/conlite/includes/pseudo-cron.inc.php b/conlite/includes/pseudo-cron.inc.php
index eed5dff..c0a0b3b 100644
--- a/conlite/includes/pseudo-cron.inc.php
+++ b/conlite/includes/pseudo-cron.inc.php
@@ -405,6 +405,9 @@ function parseCronFile($PC_cronTabFile, $PC_debug) {
     $file = @file($PC_cronTabFile);
     $job = Array();
     $jobs = Array();
+	if(!is_countable($file)) {
+		return $jobs;
+	}
     for ($i = 0; $i < count($file); $i++) {
         if ($file[$i][0] != '#') {
 //         old regex, without dow abbreviations:
diff --git a/conlite/includes/startup.php b/conlite/includes/startup.php
index 50ee2ec..6c71e4c 100644
--- a/conlite/includes/startup.php
+++ b/conlite/includes/startup.php
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ if (!defined('CL_VERSION')) {
 // fixed functions for PHP 5.4 and later
 include_once(str_replace('\\', '/', realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/..')) . '/includes/functions.php54.php');
 
+// simulate PHP 7.3 functions
+include_once(str_replace('\\', '/', realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/..')) . '/includes/functions.php73.php');
+
 // 1. security check: Include security class and invoke basic request checks
 include_once(str_replace('\\', '/', realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/..')) . '/classes/class.security.php');
 try {