diff --git a/nc.cmake b/nc.cmake
index 784deda..9e5128a 100644
--- a/nc.cmake
+++ b/nc.cmake
@@ -17,16 +17,16 @@ link_libraries (Threads::Threads)
 # files so that we can reliably point to soure files contained therein
 # (eg, the search_lib.cpp tests and friends).
 foreach (d ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH})
-    message (STATUS testing nc_cmake_base at "${d}")
     if (EXISTS "${d}/nc.cmake")
         set (NC_CMAKE_BASE "${d}")
-        message (STATUS testing nc_cmake_base at "${d} - found")
         break()
-    else ()
-        message (STATUS testing nc_cmake_base at "${d} - not found")
     endif ()
 endforeach()
 
+if (NOT NC_CMAKE_BASE)
+    message (FATAL_ERROR "Unable to locate the NC CMake directory")
+endif ()
+
 include (nc_cxx)
 include (nc_sanitizer)
 include (nc_platform)