diff --git a/src/app/FakeLib/EnvironmentHelper.fs b/src/app/FakeLib/EnvironmentHelper.fs
index b35f21b59ee..af4cc8a7e5d 100644
--- a/src/app/FakeLib/EnvironmentHelper.fs
+++ b/src/app/FakeLib/EnvironmentHelper.fs
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ let environVarOrDefault name defaultValue =
     if String.IsNullOrEmpty var then defaultValue
     else var
 
+/// Retrieves the environment variable with the given name or fails if not found
+let environVarOrFail name = 
+    let var = environVar name
+    if String.IsNullOrEmpty var then failwith <| sprintf "Environment variable '%s' not found" name
+    else var
+
 /// Retrieves the environment variable with the given name or returns the default bool if no value was set
 let getEnvironmentVarAsBoolOrDefault varName defaultValue=
     try