diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index fbaa5fd320..e8afb1a1bc 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ To build from source you will need:
     are: clang, Visual C++, Intel's C++ compiler
   * git or wget
 
+**Note:** When installing ``gcc`` on Ubuntu (and likely other distros) ensure that the ``build-essentials`` package is installed also.
+
 If you are on a fairly modern *nix system, the following steps should work:
 
 ```