diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/intel.py b/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/intel.py
index aeb3f861c1b..a249afff90a 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/intel.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/intel.py
@@ -1259,6 +1259,14 @@ def install(self, spec, prefix):
         for f in glob.glob('%s/intel*log' % tmpdir):
             install(f, dst)
 
+    @run_after('install')
+    def validate_install(self):
+        # Sometimes the installer exits with an error but doesn't pass a
+        # non-zero exit code to spack. Check for the existence of a 'bin'
+        # directory to catch this error condition.
+        if not os.path.exists(self.prefix.bin):
+            raise InstallError('The installer has failed to install anything.')
+
     @run_after('install')
     def configure_rpath(self):
         if '+rpath' not in self.spec: