diff --git a/core/core.el b/core/core.el
index 4e304ff3c..a681f59b5 100644
--- a/core/core.el
+++ b/core/core.el
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 ;;; core.el --- the heart of the beast -*- lexical-binding: t; -*-
 
+(eval-when-compile
+  (when (version< emacs-version "25")
+    (error "Doom only supports Emacs 25.1 and higher!")))
+
+;;
 (defvar doom-version "2.0.9"
   "Current version of DOOM emacs.")