diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 606bb5a1a8d..98b36b87201 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -308,6 +308,11 @@ CFG_SELF=${CFG_SRC_DIR}$(basename $0)
 CFG_CONFIGURE_ARGS="$@"
 CFG_PATH=$PATH
 
+if git status $CFG_SRC_DIR/src/compiler $CFG_SRC_DIR/src/support $CFG_SRC_DIR/src/platform \
+    | grep -q 'modified:.*modified content'; then
+    err "Some submodule has a dirty working tree.  See 'git status'."
+fi
+
 OPTIONS=""
 HELP=0
 if [ "$1" = "--help" ]