diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/os/linux.rb b/Library/Homebrew/os/linux.rb
index e5af301b2f..f78a675422 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/os/linux.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/os/linux.rb
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ module OS
 
     ::MacOS = self # rubocop:disable Naming/ConstantName
 
+    raise "Loaded OS::Linux on generic OS!" if ENV["HOMEBREW_TEST_GENERIC_OS"]
+
     def prefer_64_bit?
       Hardware::CPU.is_64_bit?
     end