diff --git a/Make.inc b/Make.inc
index 0c6feea..3632d55 100644
--- a/Make.inc
+++ b/Make.inc
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ endif
 AR = ar
 
 ARCH := $(shell $(CC) -dumpmachine | sed "s/\([^-]*\).*$$/\1/")
+ifeq ($(ARCH),mingw32)
+$(error "the mingw32 compiler you are using fails the openblas testsuite. please see the Julia README.windows.md document for a replacement")
+endif
 
 CFLAGS_add += -std=c99 -Wall -O3 -I$(OPENLIBM_HOME) -I$(OPENLIBM_HOME)/include -I$(OPENLIBM_HOME)/ld80 -I$(OPENLIBM_HOME)/$(ARCH) -I$(OPENLIBM_HOME)/src -DASSEMBLER -D__BSD_VISIBLE -Wno-implicit-function-declaration