diff --git a/scripts/mod/modpost.c b/scripts/mod/modpost.c
index 43e00867623a..d55d7e5ef111 100644
--- a/scripts/mod/modpost.c
+++ b/scripts/mod/modpost.c
@@ -2018,7 +2018,7 @@ static void read_symbols(const char *modname)
 	if (!mod->is_vmlinux) {
 		license = get_modinfo(&info, "license");
 		if (!license)
-			warn("missing MODULE_LICENSE() in %s\n", modname);
+			error("missing MODULE_LICENSE() in %s\n", modname);
 		while (license) {
 			if (license_is_gpl_compatible(license))
 				mod->gpl_compatible = 1;