diff --git a/pkg/stacker/build.go b/pkg/stacker/build.go
index c1d30f76..819b86d3 100644
--- a/pkg/stacker/build.go
+++ b/pkg/stacker/build.go
@@ -820,6 +820,12 @@ func SetupLayerConfig(config types.StackerConfig, c *container.Container, l type
 	}
 
 	for _, bind := range l.Binds {
+		_, err := os.Stat(bind.Source)
+		// c.BindMount allows files to not exist and will create them, but not so for directories.
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			log.Errorf("bind mount source %q does not exist, refusing bind mount: %s", bind.Source, err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("bind mount source %q does not exist, refusing bind mount: %s", bind.Source, err)
+		}
 		err = c.BindMount(bind.Source, bind.Dest, "")
 		if err != nil {
 			return err