diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 353fd4c8..9c43a02e 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -1,4 +1,14 @@
-const babel = require("@babel/core");
+let babel;
+try {
+  babel = require("@babel/core");
+} catch (err) {
+  if (err.code === "MODULE_NOT_FOUND") {
+    err.message +=
+      "\n babel-loader@8 requires Babel 7.x (the package '@babel/core'). " +
+      "If you'd like to use Babel 6.x ('babel-core'), you should install 'babel-loader@7'.";
+  }
+  throw err;
+}
 
 const pkg = require("../package.json");
 const cache = require("./cache");