diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index d64a59e9ed..de6bf0ee9a 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import akka.{ AutomaticModuleName, CopyrightHeaderForBuild, ParadoxSupport, ScalafixIgnoreFilePlugin }
+import akka.{ AutomaticModuleName, CopyrightHeaderForBuild, CrossJava, ParadoxSupport, ScalafixIgnoreFilePlugin }
 
 enablePlugins(
   UnidocRoot,
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import spray.boilerplate.BoilerplatePlugin
 initialize := {
   // Load system properties from a file to make configuration from Jenkins easier
   loadSystemProperties("project/akka-build.properties")
+  assert(CrossJava.Keys.fullJavaHomes.value.contains("8"), "JDK 8 is not installed but required to build akka")
   initialize.value
 }