diff --git a/Cabal/src/Distribution/Simple/Errors.hs b/Cabal/src/Distribution/Simple/Errors.hs
index dc3e30ab9b6..7d2d2ddd22e 100644
--- a/Cabal/src/Distribution/Simple/Errors.hs
+++ b/Cabal/src/Distribution/Simple/Errors.hs
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ data CabalException
   | NoProgramFound String VersionRange
   | BadVersionDb String Version VersionRange FilePath
   | UnknownVersionDb String VersionRange FilePath
+  | CombineObjectFilesRelocatableUnsupported
   deriving (Show, Typeable)
 
 exceptionCode :: CabalException -> Int
@@ -301,6 +302,7 @@ exceptionCode e = case e of
   NoProgramFound{} -> 7620
   BadVersionDb{} -> 8038
   UnknownVersionDb{} -> 1008
+  CombineObjectFilesRelocatableUnsupported -> 4346
 
 versionRequirement :: VersionRange -> String
 versionRequirement range
@@ -791,3 +793,6 @@ exceptionMessage e = case e of
       ++ " is required but the version of "
       ++ locationPath
       ++ " could not be determined."
+  CombineObjectFilesRelocatableUnsupported ->
+    "combineObjectFiles: Have been asked to combine object "
+      ++ "files but the configured linker does not support relocations."
diff --git a/Cabal/src/Distribution/Simple/Program/Ld.hs b/Cabal/src/Distribution/Simple/Program/Ld.hs
index d7449b93964..caa3a35c32e 100644
--- a/Cabal/src/Distribution/Simple/Program/Ld.hs
+++ b/Cabal/src/Distribution/Simple/Program/Ld.hs
@@ -15,10 +15,15 @@ module Distribution.Simple.Program.Ld
   ( combineObjectFiles
   ) where
 
+import qualified Data.Map.Strict as Map
+
 import Distribution.Compat.Prelude
 import Prelude ()
 
 import Distribution.Simple.Compiler (arResponseFilesSupported)
+import Distribution.Simple.Errors
+  ( CabalException (CombineObjectFilesRelocatableUnsupported)
+  )
 import Distribution.Simple.Flag
   ( fromFlagOrDefault
   )
@@ -40,11 +45,11 @@ import Distribution.Simple.Setup.Config
   )
 import Distribution.Simple.Utils
   ( defaultTempFileOptions
+  , dieWithException
   )
 import Distribution.Verbosity
   ( Verbosity
   )
-
 import System.Directory
   ( renameFile
   )
@@ -67,6 +72,11 @@ combineObjectFiles verbosity lbi ld target files = do
   -- have a slight problem. What we have to do is link files in batches into
   -- a temp object file and then include that one in the next batch.
 
+  case Map.lookup "Supports relocatable output" $ programProperties ld of
+    Just "YES" -> pure ()
+    Just "NO" ->
+      dieWithException verbosity $ CombineObjectFilesRelocatableUnsupported
+    _other -> pure () -- This may still fail if the compiler does not support -r.
   let simpleArgs = ["-r", "-o", target]
 
       initialArgs = ["-r", "-o", target]