diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 81ecd4bae7..fbda17c987 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -315,6 +315,11 @@ elif host_os == 'sunos'
   qemu_common_flags += '-D__EXTENSIONS__'
 elif host_os == 'haiku'
   qemu_common_flags += ['-DB_USE_POSITIVE_POSIX_ERRORS', '-D_BSD_SOURCE', '-fPIC']
+elif host_os == 'windows'
+  if not compiler.compiles('struct x { int y; } __attribute__((gcc_struct));',
+                           args: '-Werror')
+    error('Your compiler does not support __attribute__((gcc_struct)) - please use GCC instead of Clang')
+  endif
 endif
 
 # __sync_fetch_and_and requires at least -march=i486. Many toolchains