diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9faa9576..33abdfb9 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -139,6 +139,9 @@ endif()
 find_library(LIBDWARF dwarf)
 
 if (NOT LIBDWARF)
+	if (CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
+		message(FATAL_ERROR "Could not find libdwarf.so, install libdwarf-devel to ${CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH}")
+	endif()
 	message("WARNING: libdwarf will be compiled locally")
 	enable_language(CXX)
 else()