diff --git a/m4/check-package.m4 b/m4/check-package.m4
index b806de127890934d1ba333823b94e608431e6e84..7f1151946488def07dfb15028bf4dc56febfe051 100644
--- a/m4/check-package.m4
+++ b/m4/check-package.m4
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@ dnl the macro itself
 dnl
 AC_DEFUN(ALBERTA_CHECK_PACKAGE,
 [AC_REQUIRE([AC_SET_PREFIX])
+m4_if($#,
+       8,,[
+errprint([$0] needs EXACTLY eight (8) arguments, but got $#
+)
+m4exit(1)])
 dnl
 dnl upcase $1
 dnl