diff --git a/linux/linux.mk b/linux/linux.mk
index cf728aad05..ec7dfc39ec 100644
--- a/linux/linux.mk
+++ b/linux/linux.mk
@@ -166,6 +166,10 @@ else ifeq ($(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIG),y)
 KERNEL_SOURCE_CONFIG = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE))
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(wildcard $(KERNEL_SOURCE_CONFIG)),)
+$(error Configuration file '$(KERNEL_SOURCE_CONFIG)' not found.)
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(call KCONFIG_GET_OPT,CONFIG_KERNEL_LZO,$(KERNEL_SOURCE_CONFIG)),y)
 LINUX_DEPENDENCIES += host-lzop
 endif