diff --git a/crates/rustc_codegen_spirv/build.rs b/crates/rustc_codegen_spirv/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..14d3a9efad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/rustc_codegen_spirv/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+// Putting this check here causes compilation failure seconds into the build,
+// putting it in lib.rs fails after minutes because spirv-tools gets compiled first.
+#[cfg(all(feature = "use-compiled-tools", feature = "use-installed-tools"))]
+compile_error!(
+    "Either \"use-compiled-tools\" (enabled by default) or \"use-installed-tools\" may be enabled."
+);
+
+fn main() {}