diff --git a/backend/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/inc/bloop/internal/BloopHighLevelCompiler.scala b/backend/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/inc/bloop/internal/BloopHighLevelCompiler.scala
index e2947939a1..43deccb562 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/inc/bloop/internal/BloopHighLevelCompiler.scala
+++ b/backend/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/inc/bloop/internal/BloopHighLevelCompiler.scala
@@ -137,6 +137,10 @@ final class BloopHighLevelCompiler(
               val msg = "Encountered a StackOverflowError coming from the compiler. You might need to restart your Bloop build server"
               logger.error(s"${msg}:\n${t.getStackTrace().mkString("\n")}")
               throw new CompileFailed(new Array(0), msg, new Array(0), t)
+            case t: NoClassDefFoundError =>
+              val msg = "Encountered a NoClassDefFoundError coming from the compiler. You might need to clean compile your workspace"
+              logger.error(s"${msg}:\n${t.getStackTrace().mkString("\n")}")
+              throw new CompileFailed(new Array(0), msg, new Array(0), t)
             case NonFatal(t) =>
               // If scala compilation happens, complete the java promise so that it doesn't block
               JavaCompleted.tryFailure(t)