diff --git a/aclocal.m4 b/aclocal.m4
index 91b1fc662c5dae9825b40a22ce7fc69599c69c2b..a4b1767365e810ad1dcb35fe7e6ef507aa98ef23 100644
--- a/aclocal.m4
+++ b/aclocal.m4
@@ -102,6 +102,11 @@ changequote([, ])dnl
 else
    ac_cv_happy_version="";
 fi;
+if expr "$ac_cv_happy_version" "<" 1.4 > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+   echo
+   echo "Happy version 1.4 or later is required to compile GHC."
+   exit 1;
+fi;
 ])
 HappyVersion=$ac_cv_happy_version;
 AC_SUBST(HappyVersion)