diff --git a/base/loading.jl b/base/loading.jl
index 7a07f3e506364d..5a371630305a22 100644
--- a/base/loading.jl
+++ b/base/loading.jl
@@ -1864,6 +1864,7 @@ function _require(pkg::PkgId, env=nothing)
             if pkg == concrete_pkg
                 @warn """Module $(pkg.name) with build ID $((UUID(concrete_build_id))) is missing from the cache.
                      This may mean $pkg does not support precompilation but is imported by a module that does."""
+                error()
                 if JLOptions().incremental != 0
                     # during incremental precompilation, this should be fail-fast
                     throw(PrecompilableError())