diff --git a/package/uclibc/uclibc.mk b/package/uclibc/uclibc.mk
index ecbfa113d4..3aceae300c 100644
--- a/package/uclibc/uclibc.mk
+++ b/package/uclibc/uclibc.mk
@@ -474,4 +474,12 @@ define UCLIBC_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS
 	$(UCLIBC_INSTALL_UTILS_STAGING)
 endef
 
+# Checks to give errors that the user can understand
+# Must be before we call to kconfig-package
+ifeq ($(BR_BUILDING),y)
+ifeq ($(call qstrip,$(BR2_UCLIBC_CONFIG)),)
+$(error No uClibc configuration file specified, check your BR2_UCLIBC_CONFIG setting)
+endif
+endif
+
 $(eval $(kconfig-package))