diff --git a/emcmake.py b/emcmake.py
index d8b8ccd5e7a9c..ef8e6e25ac1ab 100755
--- a/emcmake.py
+++ b/emcmake.py
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ def has_substr(args, substr):
     # See https://github.com/emscripten-core/emscripten/issues/15522
     args.append(f'-DCMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING_EMULATOR={node_js}')
 
+  # Print a better error if we have no CMake executable on the PATH
+  if not os.path.dirname(args[0]) and not shutil.which(args[0]):
+    print(f'emcmake: cmake executable not found on PATH: `{args[0]}`', file=sys.stderr)
+    return 1
+
   # On Windows specify MinGW Makefiles or ninja if we have them and no other
   # toolchain was specified, to keep CMake from pulling in a native Visual
   # Studio, or Unix Makefiles.