diff --git a/build_tests/configure/scope.rb b/build_tests/configure/scope.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f2d40f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build_tests/configure/scope.rb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+check_c_compiler "gcc"
diff --git a/spec/build_tests_spec.rb b/spec/build_tests_spec.rb
index 2187e74..60752e7 100644
--- a/spec/build_tests_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/build_tests_spec.rb
@@ -1481,4 +1481,14 @@ EOF
       expect(result.status).to_not eq 0
     end
   end
+
+  context "configure" do
+    it "raises a method not found error for configure methods called outside a configure block" do
+      test_dir "configure"
+      result = run_rscons(rsconsfile: "scope.rb")
+      expect(result.stderr).to match /NoMethodError/
+      expect(result.status).to_not eq 0
+    end
+  end
+
 end