diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 4841c1d8ad..65d57340df 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -7376,6 +7376,7 @@ $as_echo "$with_trace_refs" >&6; }
 
 if test "$with_trace_refs" = "yes"
 then
+  as_fn_error $? "--with-trace-refs is not supported in nogil mode" "$LINENO" 5
 
 $as_echo "#define Py_TRACE_REFS 1" >>confdefs.h
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0ed5a24e86..6e4d4868f6 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1669,6 +1669,7 @@ AC_MSG_RESULT($with_trace_refs)
 
 if test "$with_trace_refs" = "yes"
 then
+  AC_MSG_ERROR([--with-trace-refs is not supported in nogil mode])
   AC_DEFINE(Py_TRACE_REFS, 1, [Define if you want to enable tracing references for debugging purpose])
 fi