diff --git a/libcxx/cmake/caches/Armv7M-picolibc.cmake b/libcxx/cmake/caches/Armv7M-picolibc.cmake
index 91cc32fd376e3..3ab80b960ed44 100644
--- a/libcxx/cmake/caches/Armv7M-picolibc.cmake
+++ b/libcxx/cmake/caches/Armv7M-picolibc.cmake
@@ -39,4 +39,4 @@ set(LIBUNWIND_ENABLE_THREADS OFF CACHE BOOL "")
 set(LIBUNWIND_IS_BAREMETAL ON CACHE BOOL "")
 set(LIBUNWIND_REMEMBER_HEAP_ALLOC ON CACHE BOOL "")
 set(LIBUNWIND_USE_COMPILER_RT ON CACHE BOOL "")
-find_program(QEMU_SYSTEM_ARM qemu-system-arm)
+find_program(QEMU_SYSTEM_ARM qemu-system-arm REQUIRED)
diff --git a/libcxx/utils/qemu_baremetal.py b/libcxx/utils/qemu_baremetal.py
index aaf5b84489066..126031bbb19c4 100755
--- a/libcxx/utils/qemu_baremetal.py
+++ b/libcxx/utils/qemu_baremetal.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import argparse
 import os
 import sys
+import shutil
 
 
 def main():
@@ -32,8 +33,13 @@ def main():
     parser.add_argument("test_binary")
     parser.add_argument("test_args", nargs=argparse.ZERO_OR_MORE, default=[])
     args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    if not shutil.which(args.qemu):
+        sys.exit(f"Failed to find QEMU binary from --qemu value: '{args.qemu}'")
+
     if not os.path.exists(args.test_binary):
         sys.exit(f"Expected argument to be a test executable: '{args.test_binary}'")
+
     qemu_commandline = [
         args.qemu,
         "-chardev",