set -e
-rm -f dev_mode_disabled
+if [ -f dev_mode_disabled ]; then
+ cat <<EOF >&2
+Error: It looks like you are building ccache from a release archive. If so,
+there is no need to run autoconf.sh. See INSTALL.md for further instructions.
+
+If you do want to the enable the development mode, delete the file
+dev_mode_disabled first, but it's probably a better idea to work with the
+proper ccache Git repository directly as described on
+<https://ccache.dev/repo.html>.
+EOF
+ exit 1
+fi
+
autoheader
autoconf
echo "Now run ./configure and make"