diff --git a/.github/workflows/binary-gems.yml b/.github/workflows/binary-gems.yml
index 322cdfc53..86ebb3fca 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/binary-gems.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/binary-gems.yml
@@ -223,3 +223,26 @@ jobs:
           cp -v  pg-*.gem   misc/yugabyte/
           cd misc/yugabyte
           docker-compose up --abort-on-container-exit  --exit-code-from pg
+
+  job_binary_too_old_glibc:
+    name: GLIBC
+    needs: rcd_build
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - gem_platform: x86_64-linux
+
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Download gem-${{ matrix.gem_platform }}
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: binary-gem-${{ matrix.gem_platform }}
+      - name: Build image and Run tests
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get install -y docker-compose
+          cp -v  pg-*.gem   misc/glibc/
+          cd misc/glibc
+          docker-compose up --abort-on-container-exit  --exit-code-from pg
diff --git a/lib/pg.rb b/lib/pg.rb
index 557f81728..b996362da 100644
--- a/lib/pg.rb
+++ b/lib/pg.rb
@@ -5,141 +5,161 @@
 # The top-level PG namespace.
 module PG
 
-	# Is this file part of a fat binary gem with bundled libpq?
-	# This path must be enabled by add_dll_directory on Windows.
-	gplat = Gem::Platform.local
-	bundled_libpq_path = Dir[File.expand_path("../ports/#{gplat.cpu}-#{gplat.os}*/lib", __dir__)].first
-	if bundled_libpq_path
-		POSTGRESQL_LIB_PATH = bundled_libpq_path
-	else
-		# Try to load libpq path as found by extconf.rb
-		begin
-			require "pg/postgresql_lib_path"
-		rescue LoadError
-			# rake-compiler doesn't use regular "make install", but uses it's own install tasks.
-			# It therefore doesn't copy pg/postgresql_lib_path.rb in case of "rake compile".
-			POSTGRESQL_LIB_PATH = false
-		end
-	end
-	POSTGRESQL_LIB_PATH.freeze
-
-	add_dll_path = proc do |path, &block|
-		if RUBY_PLATFORM =~/(mswin|mingw)/i && path
-			BUNDLED_LIBPQ_WITH_UNIXSOCKET = false
-			begin
-				require 'ruby_installer/runtime'
-				RubyInstaller::Runtime.add_dll_directory(path, &block)
-			rescue LoadError
-				old_path = ENV['PATH']
-				ENV['PATH'] = "#{path};#{old_path}"
-				block.call
-				ENV['PATH'] = old_path
-			end
-		else
-			# libpq is found by a relative rpath in the cross compiled extension dll
-			# or by the system library loader
-			block.call
-			BUNDLED_LIBPQ_WITH_UNIXSOCKET = RUBY_PLATFORM=~/linux/i && PG::IS_BINARY_GEM
-		end
-	end
-
-	# Add a load path to the one retrieved from pg_config
-	add_dll_path.call(POSTGRESQL_LIB_PATH) do
-		begin
-			# Try the <major>.<minor> subdirectory for fat binary gems
-			major_minor = RUBY_VERSION[ /^(\d+\.\d+)/ ] or
-				raise "Oops, can't extract the major/minor version from #{RUBY_VERSION.dump}"
-			require "#{major_minor}/pg_ext"
-		rescue LoadError
-			require 'pg_ext'
-		end
-	end
-
-	# Get the PG library version.
-	#
-	# +include_buildnum+ is no longer used and any value passed will be ignored.
-	def self.version_string( include_buildnum=nil )
-		"%s %s" % [ self.name, VERSION ]
-	end
-
-
-	### Convenience alias for PG::Connection.new.
-	def self.connect( *args, &block )
-		Connection.new( *args, &block )
-	end
-
-	if defined?(Ractor.make_shareable)
-		def self.make_shareable(obj)
-			Ractor.make_shareable(obj)
-		end
-	else
-		def self.make_shareable(obj)
-			obj.freeze
-		end
-	end
-
-	module BinaryDecoder
-		%i[ TimestampUtc TimestampUtcToLocal TimestampLocal ].each do |klass|
-			autoload klass, 'pg/binary_decoder/timestamp'
-		end
-		autoload :Date, 'pg/binary_decoder/date'
-	end
-	module BinaryEncoder
-		%i[ TimestampUtc TimestampLocal ].each do |klass|
-			autoload klass, 'pg/binary_encoder/timestamp'
-		end
-	end
-	module TextDecoder
-		%i[ TimestampUtc TimestampUtcToLocal TimestampLocal TimestampWithoutTimeZone TimestampWithTimeZone ].each do |klass|
-			autoload klass, 'pg/text_decoder/timestamp'
-		end
-		autoload :Date, 'pg/text_decoder/date'
-		autoload :Inet, 'pg/text_decoder/inet'
-		autoload :JSON, 'pg/text_decoder/json'
-		autoload :Numeric, 'pg/text_decoder/numeric'
-	end
-	module TextEncoder
-		%i[ TimestampUtc TimestampWithoutTimeZone TimestampWithTimeZone ].each do |klass|
-			autoload klass, 'pg/text_encoder/timestamp'
-		end
-		autoload :Date, 'pg/text_encoder/date'
-		autoload :Inet, 'pg/text_encoder/inet'
-		autoload :JSON, 'pg/text_encoder/json'
-		autoload :Numeric, 'pg/text_encoder/numeric'
-	end
-
-	autoload :BasicTypeMapBasedOnResult, 'pg/basic_type_map_based_on_result'
-	autoload :BasicTypeMapForQueries, 'pg/basic_type_map_for_queries'
-	autoload :BasicTypeMapForResults, 'pg/basic_type_map_for_results'
-	autoload :BasicTypeRegistry, 'pg/basic_type_registry'
-	require 'pg/exceptions'
-	require 'pg/coder'
-	require 'pg/type_map_by_column'
-	require 'pg/connection'
-	require 'pg/cancel_connection'
-	require 'pg/result'
-	require 'pg/tuple'
-	autoload :VERSION, 'pg/version'
-
-
-	# Avoid "uninitialized constant Truffle::WarningOperations" on Truffleruby up to 22.3.1
-	if RUBY_ENGINE=="truffleruby" && !defined?(Truffle::WarningOperations)
-		module TruffleFixWarn
-			def warn(str, category=nil)
-				super(str)
-			end
-		end
-		Warning.extend(TruffleFixWarn)
-	end
-
-	# Ruby-3.4+ prints a warning, if bigdecimal is required but not in the Gemfile.
-	# But it's a false positive, since we enable bigdecimal depending features only if it's available.
-	# And most people don't need these features.
-	def self.require_bigdecimal_without_warning
-		oldverb, $VERBOSE = $VERBOSE, nil
-		require "bigdecimal"
-	ensure
-		$VERBOSE = oldverb
-	end
+  # Is this file part of a fat binary gem with bundled libpq?
+  # This path must be enabled by add_dll_directory on Windows.
+  gplat = Gem::Platform.local
+  bundled_libpq_path = Dir[File.expand_path("../ports/#{gplat.cpu}-#{gplat.os}*/lib", __dir__)].first
+  if bundled_libpq_path
+    POSTGRESQL_LIB_PATH = bundled_libpq_path
+  else
+    # Try to load libpq path as found by extconf.rb
+    begin
+      require "pg/postgresql_lib_path"
+    rescue LoadError
+      # rake-compiler doesn't use regular "make install", but uses it's own install tasks.
+      # It therefore doesn't copy pg/postgresql_lib_path.rb in case of "rake compile".
+      POSTGRESQL_LIB_PATH = false
+    end
+  end
+  POSTGRESQL_LIB_PATH.freeze
+
+  add_dll_path = proc do |path, &block|
+    if RUBY_PLATFORM =~/(mswin|mingw)/i && path
+      BUNDLED_LIBPQ_WITH_UNIXSOCKET = false
+      begin
+        require 'ruby_installer/runtime'
+        RubyInstaller::Runtime.add_dll_directory(path, &block)
+      rescue LoadError
+        old_path = ENV['PATH']
+        ENV['PATH'] = "#{path};#{old_path}"
+        block.call
+        ENV['PATH'] = old_path
+      end
+    else
+      # libpq is found by a relative rpath in the cross compiled extension dll
+      # or by the system library loader
+      block.call
+      BUNDLED_LIBPQ_WITH_UNIXSOCKET = RUBY_PLATFORM=~/linux/i && PG::IS_BINARY_GEM
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Add a load path to the one retrieved from pg_config
+  add_dll_path.call(POSTGRESQL_LIB_PATH) do
+    begin
+      # Try the <major>.<minor> subdirectory for fat binary gems
+      major_minor = RUBY_VERSION[ /^(\d+\.\d+)/ ] or
+        raise "Oops, can't extract the major/minor version from #{RUBY_VERSION.dump}"
+      require "#{major_minor}/pg_ext"
+    rescue LoadError => error1
+      begin
+        require 'pg_ext'
+      rescue LoadError => error2
+        msg = <<~EOT
+          pg's C extension failed to load:
+            #{error1}
+            #{error2}
+        EOT
+        if msg =~ /GLIBC/
+          msg += <<~EOT
+
+            The GLIBC version of this system seems too old. Please use the source version of pg:
+                gem uninstall pg --all
+                gem install pg --platform ruby
+            or in your Gemfile:
+                gem "pg", force_ruby_platform: true
+            See also: https://deveiate.org/code/pg/README_md.html#label-Source+gem
+          EOT
+        end
+        raise error2, msg
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Get the PG library version.
+  #
+  # +include_buildnum+ is no longer used and any value passed will be ignored.
+  def self.version_string( include_buildnum=nil )
+    "%s %s" % [ self.name, VERSION ]
+  end
+
+
+  ### Convenience alias for PG::Connection.new.
+  def self.connect( *args, &block )
+    Connection.new( *args, &block )
+  end
+
+  if defined?(Ractor.make_shareable)
+    def self.make_shareable(obj)
+      Ractor.make_shareable(obj)
+    end
+  else
+    def self.make_shareable(obj)
+      obj.freeze
+    end
+  end
+
+  module BinaryDecoder
+    %i[ TimestampUtc TimestampUtcToLocal TimestampLocal ].each do |klass|
+      autoload klass, 'pg/binary_decoder/timestamp'
+    end
+    autoload :Date, 'pg/binary_decoder/date'
+  end
+  module BinaryEncoder
+    %i[ TimestampUtc TimestampLocal ].each do |klass|
+      autoload klass, 'pg/binary_encoder/timestamp'
+    end
+  end
+  module TextDecoder
+    %i[ TimestampUtc TimestampUtcToLocal TimestampLocal TimestampWithoutTimeZone TimestampWithTimeZone ].each do |klass|
+      autoload klass, 'pg/text_decoder/timestamp'
+    end
+    autoload :Date, 'pg/text_decoder/date'
+    autoload :Inet, 'pg/text_decoder/inet'
+    autoload :JSON, 'pg/text_decoder/json'
+    autoload :Numeric, 'pg/text_decoder/numeric'
+  end
+  module TextEncoder
+    %i[ TimestampUtc TimestampWithoutTimeZone TimestampWithTimeZone ].each do |klass|
+      autoload klass, 'pg/text_encoder/timestamp'
+    end
+    autoload :Date, 'pg/text_encoder/date'
+    autoload :Inet, 'pg/text_encoder/inet'
+    autoload :JSON, 'pg/text_encoder/json'
+    autoload :Numeric, 'pg/text_encoder/numeric'
+  end
+
+  autoload :BasicTypeMapBasedOnResult, 'pg/basic_type_map_based_on_result'
+  autoload :BasicTypeMapForQueries, 'pg/basic_type_map_for_queries'
+  autoload :BasicTypeMapForResults, 'pg/basic_type_map_for_results'
+  autoload :BasicTypeRegistry, 'pg/basic_type_registry'
+  require 'pg/exceptions'
+  require 'pg/coder'
+  require 'pg/type_map_by_column'
+  require 'pg/connection'
+  require 'pg/cancel_connection'
+  require 'pg/result'
+  require 'pg/tuple'
+  autoload :VERSION, 'pg/version'
+
+
+  # Avoid "uninitialized constant Truffle::WarningOperations" on Truffleruby up to 22.3.1
+  if RUBY_ENGINE=="truffleruby" && !defined?(Truffle::WarningOperations)
+    module TruffleFixWarn
+      def warn(str, category=nil)
+        super(str)
+      end
+    end
+    Warning.extend(TruffleFixWarn)
+  end
+
+  # Ruby-3.4+ prints a warning, if bigdecimal is required but not in the Gemfile.
+  # But it's a false positive, since we enable bigdecimal depending features only if it's available.
+  # And most people don't need these features.
+  def self.require_bigdecimal_without_warning
+    oldverb, $VERBOSE = $VERBOSE, nil
+    require "bigdecimal"
+  ensure
+    $VERBOSE = oldverb
+  end
 
 end # module PG
diff --git a/misc/glibc/Dockerfile b/misc/glibc/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6bb9ff120
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/glibc/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+FROM debian:10.13
+
+WORKDIR /pg
+
+# Debian 10.13 is EOL now:
+RUN sed -i s/deb.debian.org/archive.debian.org/g /etc/apt/sources.list
+
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install ruby git wget gcc make libz-dev libffi-dev libreadline-dev libyaml-dev libssl-dev -y
+
+ENV RBENV_ROOT=/usr/local/rbenv
+
+RUN git clone https://github.com/rbenv/rbenv.git      ${RBENV_ROOT} && \
+    git clone https://github.com/rbenv/ruby-build.git ${RBENV_ROOT}/plugins/ruby-build && \
+    $RBENV_ROOT/bin/rbenv init
+
+RUN $RBENV_ROOT/bin/rbenv install 3.3.9 -- --disable-install-doc
+RUN /usr/local/rbenv/versions/3.3.9/bin/gem inst rspec
+
+CMD /usr/local/rbenv/versions/3.3.9/bin/gem inst --local pg-*.gem && \
+    /usr/local/rbenv/versions/3.3.9/bin/rspec glibc_spec.rb
diff --git a/misc/glibc/docker-compose.yml b/misc/glibc/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..533cccaa0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/glibc/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+services:
+  pg:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      args:
+        - http_proxy
+        - https_proxy
+    volumes:
+      - .:/pg
diff --git a/misc/glibc/glibc_spec.rb b/misc/glibc/glibc_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9b6b28327
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/glibc/glibc_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+RSpec.describe "require 'pg'" do
+  it "gives a descriptive error message when GLIBC is too old" do
+    expect { require "pg" }.to raise_error(/GLIBC.*gem install pg --platform ruby/m)
+  end
+end