diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalXCodeGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmGlobalXCodeGenerator.cxx
index f989a5c20..0976a4d0b 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalXCodeGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalXCodeGenerator.cxx
@@ -1424,6 +1424,9 @@ void cmGlobalXCodeGenerator::CreateBuildSettings(cmTarget& target,
   std::string defFlags;
   bool shared = ((target.GetType() == cmTarget::SHARED_LIBRARY) ||
                  (target.GetType() == cmTarget::MODULE_LIBRARY));
+  bool binary = ((target.GetType() == cmTarget::STATIC_LIBRARY) ||
+                 (target.GetType() == cmTarget::EXECUTABLE) ||
+                 shared);
 
   const char* lang = target.GetLinkerLanguage(configName);
   std::string cflags;
@@ -1442,6 +1445,13 @@ void cmGlobalXCodeGenerator::CreateBuildSettings(cmTarget& target,
     // Add shared-library flags if needed.
     this->CurrentLocalGenerator->AddSharedFlags(flags, lang, shared);
     }
+  else if(binary)
+  {
+    cmSystemTools::Error
+      ("CMake can not determine linker language for target:",
+       target.GetName());
+    return;
+  }
 
   // Add define flags
   this->CurrentLocalGenerator->
diff --git a/Tests/CMakeLists.txt b/Tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 5e88b5c40..c056e8612 100644
--- a/Tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -153,6 +153,9 @@ IF(BUILD_TESTING)
   ADD_TEST_MACRO(ExportImport ExportImport)
   ADD_TEST_MACRO(Unset Unset)
   ADD_TEST_MACRO(PolicyScope PolicyScope)
+  ADD_TEST_MACRO(EmptyLibrary EmptyLibrary)
+  SET_TESTS_PROPERTIES(EmptyLibrary PROPERTIES
+    PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION "CMake Error: CMake can not determine linker language for target:test")
   ADD_TEST_MACRO(CrossCompile CrossCompile)
   SET_TESTS_PROPERTIES(CrossCompile PROPERTIES
     PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION "TRY_RUN.. invoked in cross-compiling mode")
diff --git a/Tests/EmptyLibrary/CMakeLists.txt b/Tests/EmptyLibrary/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..baddbbf5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/EmptyLibrary/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.6)
+project(TestEmptyLibrary)
+
+add_subdirectory(subdir)
diff --git a/Tests/EmptyLibrary/subdir/CMakeLists.txt b/Tests/EmptyLibrary/subdir/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e273f8db9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/EmptyLibrary/subdir/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+add_library(test test.h)
diff --git a/Tests/EmptyLibrary/subdir/test.h b/Tests/EmptyLibrary/subdir/test.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8511f53d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/EmptyLibrary/subdir/test.h
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+extern int dummy;