diff --git a/Modules/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader.cmake b/Modules/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader.cmake
index 593176c91..86137e2d6 100644
--- a/Modules/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader.cmake
+++ b/Modules/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader.cmake
@@ -235,6 +235,14 @@ function(write_compiler_detection_header
     message(FATAL_ERROR "Unparsed arguments: ${_WCD_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS}")
   endif()
 
+  if (prefix_arg STREQUAL "")
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "A prefix must be specified")
+  endif()
+  string(MAKE_C_IDENTIFIER ${prefix_arg} cleaned_prefix)
+  if (NOT prefix_arg STREQUAL cleaned_prefix)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "The prefix must be a valid C identifier.")
+  endif()
+
   if(NOT _WCD_VERSION)
     set(_WCD_VERSION ${CMAKE_MINIMUM_REQUIRED_VERSION})
   endif()
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/EmptyPrefix-result.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/EmptyPrefix-result.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d00491fd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/EmptyPrefix-result.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/EmptyPrefix-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/EmptyPrefix-stderr.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cf8578e26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/EmptyPrefix-stderr.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+CMake Error at .*/Modules/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader.cmake:[0-9]+ \(message\):
+  A prefix must be specified
+Call Stack \(most recent call first\):
+  EmptyPrefix.cmake:[0-9]+ \(write_compiler_detection_header\)
+  CMakeLists.txt:[0-9]+ \(include\)
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/EmptyPrefix.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/EmptyPrefix.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eda6b185a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/EmptyPrefix.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+
+include(WriteCompilerDetectionHeader)
+
+write_compiler_detection_header(
+  FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/somefile"
+  PREFIX ""
+  VERSION 3.1
+  COMPILERS GNU
+  FEATURES cxx_final
+)
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/InvalidPrefix-result.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/InvalidPrefix-result.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d00491fd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/InvalidPrefix-result.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/InvalidPrefix-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/InvalidPrefix-stderr.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ea1bf6703
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/InvalidPrefix-stderr.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+CMake Error at .*/Modules/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader.cmake:[0-9]+ \(message\):
+  The prefix must be a valid C identifier.
+Call Stack \(most recent call first\):
+  InvalidPrefix.cmake:[0-9]+ \(write_compiler_detection_header\)
+  CMakeLists.txt:[0-9]+ \(include\)
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/InvalidPrefix.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/InvalidPrefix.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6599f35a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/InvalidPrefix.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+
+include(WriteCompilerDetectionHeader)
+
+write_compiler_detection_header(
+  FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/somefile"
+  PREFIX "0compile"
+  VERSION 3.1
+  COMPILERS GNU
+  FEATURES cxx_final
+)
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/RunCMakeTest.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/RunCMakeTest.cmake
index be79d417f..6dded44a6 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/RunCMakeTest.cmake
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/WriteCompilerDetectionHeader/RunCMakeTest.cmake
@@ -10,3 +10,5 @@ run_cmake(OldVersion)
 run_cmake(InvalidCompiler)
 run_cmake(InvalidFeature)
 run_cmake(InvalidCXXFeature)
+run_cmake(EmptyPrefix)
+run_cmake(InvalidPrefix)