diff --git a/mach b/mach
index f56c94c96aa..c92653e1af8 100755
--- a/mach
+++ b/mach
@@ -15,6 +15,13 @@ from __future__ import print_function, unicode_literals
 import os
 import sys
 
+# Check for the current python version as some users (especially on archlinux)
+# may not have python 2 installed and their /bin/python binary symlinked to
+# python 3.
+if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
+    print("mach does not support python 3, please install python 2")
+    sys.exit(1)
+
 
 def main(args):
     topdir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0]))