diff --git a/bin/spark-class b/bin/spark-class
index cfe363a71da313e909b530b0ad3a29065cbab049..60d9657c0ffcddbc1c4a86bd787489b03e95cc71 100755
--- a/bin/spark-class
+++ b/bin/spark-class
@@ -130,6 +130,11 @@ else
 fi
 
 if [[ "$1" =~ org.apache.spark.tools.* ]]; then
+  if test -z "$SPARK_TOOLS_JAR"; then
+    echo "Failed to find Spark Tools Jar in $FWDIR/tools/target/scala-$SCALA_VERSION/" 1>&2
+    echo "You need to build spark before running $1." 1>&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
   CLASSPATH="$CLASSPATH:$SPARK_TOOLS_JAR"
 fi