diff --git a/gold/ChangeLog b/gold/ChangeLog
index 3e3f4fd511..b73da9b4bf 100644
--- a/gold/ChangeLog
+++ b/gold/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 2008-04-23  Ian Lance Taylor  <iant@google.com>
 
+	* object.cc (Sized_relobj::include_section_group): Check for
+	invalid section group.
+
 	* object.cc (make_elf_object): Correct test for 64-bit ELF file
 	header size.
 
diff --git a/gold/object.cc b/gold/object.cc
index 9cfd8867d4..1672225d02 100644
--- a/gold/object.cc
+++ b/gold/object.cc
@@ -609,6 +609,13 @@ Sized_relobj<size, big_endian>::include_section_group(
 		      secnum, index);
 	  continue;
 	}
+
+      // Check for an earlier section number, since we're going to get
+      // it wrong--we may have already decided to include the section.
+      if (secnum < index)
+        this->error(_("invalid section group %u refers to earlier section %u"),
+                    index, secnum);
+
       (*omit)[secnum] = true;
     }