diff --git a/samcli/lib/build/app_builder.py b/samcli/lib/build/app_builder.py
index 0e0ac5a93a..d147b14562 100644
--- a/samcli/lib/build/app_builder.py
+++ b/samcli/lib/build/app_builder.py
@@ -221,6 +221,9 @@ def _build_function_on_container(self,  # pylint: disable=too-many-locals
                                      manifest_path,
                                      runtime):
 
+        if not self._container_manager.is_docker_reachable:
+            raise BuildError("Docker is unreachable. Docker needs to be running to build inside a container.")
+
         # If we are printing debug logs in SAM CLI, the builder library should also print debug logs
         log_level = LOG.getEffectiveLevel()
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/lib/build_module/test_app_builder.py b/tests/unit/lib/build_module/test_app_builder.py
index 28bdb8298f..e0e769dbb5 100644
--- a/tests/unit/lib/build_module/test_app_builder.py
+++ b/tests/unit/lib/build_module/test_app_builder.py
@@ -309,6 +309,22 @@ def test_must_raise_on_unsupported_container(self, LambdaBuildContainerMock):
         self.assertEquals(str(ctx.exception), msg)
         self.container_manager.stop.assert_called_with(container_mock)
 
+    def test_must_raise_on_docker_not_running(self):
+        config = Mock()
+
+        self.container_manager.is_docker_reachable = False
+
+        with self.assertRaises(BuildError) as ctx:
+            self.builder._build_function_on_container(config,
+                                                      "source_dir",
+                                                      "artifacts_dir",
+                                                      "scratch_dir",
+                                                      "manifest_path",
+                                                      "runtime")
+
+        self.assertEquals(str(ctx.exception),
+                          "Docker is unreachable. Docker needs to be running to build inside a container.")
+
 
 class TestApplicationBuilder_parse_builder_response(TestCase):