diff --git a/src/Compilation/Config.zig b/src/Compilation/Config.zig
index 4abf3e88d4..5f8776fd1f 100644
--- a/src/Compilation/Config.zig
+++ b/src/Compilation/Config.zig
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ pub const ResolveError = error{
     LlvmLibraryUnavailable,
     LldUnavailable,
     ClangUnavailable,
+    DllExportFnsRequiresWindows,
 };
 
 pub fn resolve(options: Options) ResolveError!Config {
@@ -459,6 +460,11 @@ pub fn resolve(options: Options) ResolveError!Config {
     const rdynamic = options.rdynamic orelse false;
 
     const dll_export_fns = b: {
+        if (target.os.tag != .windows) {
+            if (options.dll_export_fns == true)
+                return error.DllExportFnsRequiresWindows;
+            break :b false;
+        }
         if (options.dll_export_fns) |x| break :b x;
         if (rdynamic) break :b true;
         break :b switch (options.output_mode) {
diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index a8ff0721ad..1470653f1e 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -3842,8 +3842,8 @@ fn createModule(
             create_module.opts.any_dyn_libs = true;
 
         create_module.resolved_options = Compilation.Config.resolve(create_module.opts) catch |err| switch (err) {
-            error.WasiExecModelRequiresWasi => fatal("execution model only allowed for WASI OS targets", .{}),
-            error.SharedMemoryIsWasmOnly => fatal("shared memory only allowed for WebAssembly CPU targets", .{}),
+            error.WasiExecModelRequiresWasi => fatal("only WASI OS targets support execution model", .{}),
+            error.SharedMemoryIsWasmOnly => fatal("only WebAssembly CPU targets support shared memory", .{}),
             error.ObjectFilesCannotShareMemory => fatal("object files cannot share memory", .{}),
             error.SharedMemoryRequiresAtomicsAndBulkMemory => fatal("shared memory requires atomics and bulk_memory CPU features", .{}),
             error.ThreadsRequireSharedMemory => fatal("threads require shared memory", .{}),
@@ -3869,6 +3869,7 @@ fn createModule(
             error.LlvmLibraryUnavailable => fatal("zig was compiled without LLVM libraries", .{}),
             error.LldUnavailable => fatal("zig was compiled without LLD libraries", .{}),
             error.ClangUnavailable => fatal("zig was compiled without Clang libraries", .{}),
+            error.DllExportFnsRequiresWindows => fatal("only Windows OS targets support DLLs", .{}),
         };
     }