diff --git a/tests/test_files.sh b/tests/test_files.sh
index 2ea9328b..b550b757 100755
--- a/tests/test_files.sh
+++ b/tests/test_files.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ XZDEC=../src/xzdec/xzdec
 test -x "$XZ" || XZ=
 test -x "$XZDEC" || XZDEC=
 if test -z "$XZ$XZDEC"; then
+	echo "xz and xzdec were not built, skipping this test."
 	exit 77
 fi