diff --git a/src/interpreter.c b/src/interpreter.c
index 60bd4a6e1ce7e..2536c5e7c715c 100644
--- a/src/interpreter.c
+++ b/src/interpreter.c
@@ -328,10 +328,10 @@ static jl_value_t *eval_value(jl_value_t *e, interpreter_state *s)
         return eval_methoddef(ex, s);
     }
     else if (head == jl_foreigncall_sym) {
-        jl_error("`ccall` requires the compiler");
+        jl_error("`ccall` requires the compiler. julia codegen library might have failed to load.");
     }
     else if (head == jl_cfunction_sym) {
-        jl_error("`cfunction` requires the compiler");
+        jl_error("`cfunction` requires the compiler. julia codegen library might have failed to load.");
     }
     jl_errorf("unsupported or misplaced expression %s", jl_symbol_name(head));
     abort();