diff --git a/hphp/runtime/vm/runtime-compiler.cpp b/hphp/runtime/vm/runtime-compiler.cpp
index 39e570f238b6c0..a9d3d5b9df3a43 100644
--- a/hphp/runtime/vm/runtime-compiler.cpp
+++ b/hphp/runtime/vm/runtime-compiler.cpp
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 #include "hphp/zend/zend-string.h"
 #include "unit-emitter.h"
 
+#include <stdexcept>
 #include <folly/Likely.h>
 #include <folly/Range.h>
 
@@ -259,6 +260,10 @@ Unit* get_systemlib(const std::string& path, const Extension* extension) {
 
   auto buffer = get_embedded_section(path+".ue");
 
+  if (buffer.empty()) {
+    throw std::invalid_argument("Missing systemlib unit emitter for path: " + path);
+  }
+
   UnitEmitterSerdeWrapper uew;
   BlobDecoder decoder(buffer.data(), buffer.size());
   uew.serde(decoder, extension);