diff --git a/core/SConscript.unix b/core/SConscript.unix
index 790ce72fc..b98e9cd6c 100644
--- a/core/SConscript.unix
+++ b/core/SConscript.unix
@@ -349,7 +349,10 @@ env.Replace(
     ] + CPPDEFINES_MOD,
     ASPPFLAGS='$CFLAGS $CCFLAGS', )
 
-env.ParseConfig('pkg-config --cflags --libs sdl2 SDL2_image')
+try:
+    env.ParseConfig('pkg-config --cflags --libs sdl2 SDL2_image')
+except OSError:
+    print("SDL2 not installed, Emulator build is not possible")
 
 env.Replace(
     PYTHON='python',