diff --git a/src/sbbs3/GNUmakefile b/src/sbbs3/GNUmakefile
index 097f0edff5ec7f3ce3f6596cd11bc3e97dc7b5b1..b3f483ac464bad99311e817bf5bbeffa64555d5d 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/GNUmakefile
+++ b/src/sbbs3/GNUmakefile
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
 # Optional build targets: dlls, utils, mono, all (default)				#
 #########################################################################
 
+ifdef SYMLINK
+$(error SYMLINK was defined and unexpected. You might mean the 'symlinks' target instead)
+endif
+
 PWD	:=	$(shell /bin/pwd)
 SRC_ROOT	?=	${PWD}/..
 include $(SRC_ROOT)/build/Common.gmake