diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/tools/reflect/Compile.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/tools/reflect/Compile.java
index a0da75b402..28354c0f67 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/tools/reflect/Compile.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/tools/reflect/Compile.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ package org.jooq.tools.reflect;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.io.StringWriter;
 import java.lang.invoke.MethodHandles;
 import java.lang.invoke.MethodHandles.Lookup;
 import java.net.URI;
@@ -55,8 +56,13 @@ class Compile {
 
                 List<CharSequenceJavaFileObject> files = new ArrayList<CharSequenceJavaFileObject>();
                 files.add(new CharSequenceJavaFileObject(className, content));
+                StringWriter out = new StringWriter();
 
                 compiler.getTask(null, fileManager, null, null, null, files).call();
+
+                if (fileManager.o == null)
+                    throw new ReflectException("Compilation error: " + out);
+
                 Class<?> result = null;
 
                 // This works if we have private-access to the interfaces in the class hierarchy
@@ -106,6 +112,9 @@ class Compile {
 
                 return result;
             }
+            catch (ReflectException e) {
+                throw e;
+            }
             catch (Exception e) {
                 throw new ReflectException("Error while compiling " + className, e);
             }