diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 9eef5900d..402e88ba1 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([glib_static],
 glib_found=no
 
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GLIB, [glib-2.0 >= 2.6], [glib_found=yes], [:])
+if test x"$glib_found" = xno; then
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([glib-2.0 not found or version too old (must be >= 2.6)])
+fi
 
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GMODULE, [gmodule-2.0], [gmodule_found=yes])
 GLIB_LIBDIR="`$PKG_CONFIG --variable=libdir glib-2.0`"