diff --git a/configure b/configure
index d4411a1314..c9cf1c91f5 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -3063,6 +3063,30 @@ for i in $glib_modules; do
     fi
 done
 
+# Sanity check that the current size_t matches the
+# size that glib thinks it should be. This catches
+# problems on multi-arch where people try to build
+# 32-bit QEMU while pointing at 64-bit glib headers
+cat > $TMPC <<EOF
+#include <glib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#define QEMU_BUILD_BUG_ON(x) \
+  typedef char qemu_build_bug_on[(x)?-1:1] __attribute__((unused));
+
+int main(void) {
+   QEMU_BUILD_BUG_ON(sizeof(size_t) != GLIB_SIZEOF_SIZE_T);
+   return 0;
+}
+EOF
+
+if ! compile_prog "-Werror $CFLAGS" "$LIBS" ; then
+    error_exit "sizeof(size_t) doesn't match GLIB_SIZEOF_SIZE_T."\
+               "You probably need to set PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR"\
+	       "to point to the right pkg-config files for your"\
+	       "build target"
+fi
+
 # g_test_trap_subprocess added in 2.38. Used by some tests.
 glib_subprocess=yes
 if ! $pkg_config --atleast-version=2.38 glib-2.0; then