diff --git a/py/setup.py b/py/setup.py
index a27b4091e7..dfaf3f1326 100644
--- a/py/setup.py
+++ b/py/setup.py
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ def is_exe(fpath):
 
 BAZEL_EXE = which("bazel")
 
+if BAZEL_EXE is None:
+    sys.exit("Could not find bazel in PATH")
 
 def build_libtrtorch_pre_cxx11_abi(develop=True, use_dist_dir=True, cxx11_abi=False):
     cmd = [BAZEL_EXE, "build"]