diff --git a/bin/tests/system/Makefile.in b/bin/tests/system/Makefile.in
index a155e593b8..f94f3db120 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/Makefile.in
+++ b/bin/tests/system/Makefile.in
@@ -96,6 +96,13 @@ parallel.mk:
 # Targets to run the tests.
 
 test: parallel.mk subdirs
+	@if ! ${PERL} testsock.pl > /dev/null 2>&1; then					  \
+		echo "I:NOTE: System tests were skipped because they require that the"		; \
+		echo "I:      IP addresses 10.53.0.1 through 10.53.0.8 be configured"		; \
+		echo "I:      as alias addresses on the loopback interface.  Please run"	; \
+		echo "I:      \"bin/tests/system/ifconfig.sh up\" as root to configure them."	; \
+		exit 1										; \
+	fi
 	@$(MAKE) -f parallel.mk check
 	@$(SHELL) ./runsequential.sh -r
 	@$(SHELL) ./testsummary.sh
diff --git a/bin/tests/system/testsummary.sh b/bin/tests/system/testsummary.sh
index cea0cc4a72..9d89d569c4 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/testsummary.sh
+++ b/bin/tests/system/testsummary.sh
@@ -37,15 +37,6 @@ if [ $keepfile -eq 0 ]; then
     rm -f */test.output
 fi
 
-$PERL testsock.pl || {
-    cat <<EOF
-I:NOTE: System tests were skipped because they require that the
-I:      IP addresses 10.53.0.1 through 10.53.0.8 be configured
-I:      as alias addresses on the loopback interface.  Please run
-I:      "bin/tests/system/ifconfig.sh up" as root to configure them.
-EOF
-}
-
 status=0
 echo "I:System test result summary:"
 grep '^R:' systests.output | cut -d':' -f3 | sort | uniq -c | sed -e 's/^/I:/'