diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 90908fa..e80467d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "regex-syntax 0.4.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "shell-escape 0.1.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "tempdir 0.3.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "version_check 0.1.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "winapi 0.2.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
@@ -306,6 +307,11 @@ name = "vec_map"
 version = "0.8.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "version_check"
+version = "0.1.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "void"
 version = "1.0.2"
@@ -370,6 +376,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 "checksum unreachable 1.0.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "382810877fe448991dfc7f0dd6e3ae5d58088fd0ea5e35189655f84e6814fa56"
 "checksum utf8-ranges 1.0.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "662fab6525a98beff2921d7f61a39e7d59e0b425ebc7d0d9e66d316e55124122"
 "checksum vec_map 0.8.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "887b5b631c2ad01628bbbaa7dd4c869f80d3186688f8d0b6f58774fbe324988c"
+"checksum version_check 0.1.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "6b772017e347561807c1aa192438c5fd74242a670a6cffacc40f2defd1dc069d"
 "checksum void 1.0.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "6a02e4885ed3bc0f2de90ea6dd45ebcbb66dacffe03547fadbb0eeae2770887d"
 "checksum walkdir 1.0.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "bb08f9e670fab86099470b97cd2b252d6527f0b3cc1401acdb595ffc9dd288ff"
 "checksum winapi 0.2.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "167dc9d6949a9b857f3451275e911c3f44255842c1f7a76f33c55103a909087a"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 6bbd0f9..378f3e0 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ repository = "sharkdp/fd"
 
 [build-dependencies]
 clap = "2.26.0"
+version_check = "0.1.3"
 
 [dependencies]
 ansi_term = "0.9"
diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
index 8e6fe68..aa7f03d 100644
--- a/build.rs
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -8,12 +8,25 @@
 
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate clap;
+extern crate version_check;
 
 use clap::Shell;
+use std::io::{self, Write};
+use std::process::exit;
 
 include!("src/app.rs");
 
 fn main() {
+    match version_check::is_min_version("1.19") {
+        // rustc >= 1.19
+        Some((true, _)) => {}
+        // rustc < 1.19 or can't figure it out
+        _ => {
+            writeln!(&mut io::stderr(), "This crate requires rustc >= 1.19").unwrap();
+            exit(1);
+        }
+    }
+
     let var = std::env::var_os("SHELL_COMPLETIONS_DIR").or(std::env::var_os("OUT_DIR"));
     let outdir = match var {
         None => return,