diff --git a/src/tools/mkmf.pl b/src/tools/mkmf.pl
index 76cc105f50daef8cd696e2939d756f33a814e1c6..fa3c5055c359f98c897ea5ee7f69ff5dc0c4bbad 100644
--- a/src/tools/mkmf.pl
+++ b/src/tools/mkmf.pl
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ getopts( 'dm:I@' ) || die "\aSyntax: $0 [-d] [-m dependsFile] [-I incdir [-I inc
 my $debug = $opt_d;
 my $depFile = $opt_m;
 my @incdirs = @opt_I;
-my $objFile = shift;
+my $objFile = shift or die "No target file argument";
 my @srcFiles=@ARGV;
 
 if( $debug ) {