diff --git a/base/boot.jl b/base/boot.jl
index 78b7daaf47d64..561be564d58f4 100644
--- a/base/boot.jl
+++ b/base/boot.jl
@@ -370,6 +370,8 @@ struct InitError <: WrappedException
     error
 end
 
+struct PrecompilableError <: Exception end
+
 String(s::String) = s  # no constructor yet
 
 const Cvoid = Nothing
diff --git a/base/loading.jl b/base/loading.jl
index d748283c7c9d8..bbc14c3f1d591 100644
--- a/base/loading.jl
+++ b/base/loading.jl
@@ -1686,7 +1686,7 @@ function include_dependency(path::AbstractString)
 end
 
 # we throw PrecompilableError when a module doesn't want to be precompiled
-struct PrecompilableError <: Exception end
+import Core: PrecompilableError
 function show(io::IO, ex::PrecompilableError)
     print(io, "Declaring __precompile__(false) is not allowed in files that are being precompiled.")
 end
diff --git a/src/gf.c b/src/gf.c
index 9ee77a8426432..1b6251078fa1f 100644
--- a/src/gf.c
+++ b/src/gf.c
@@ -1568,8 +1568,10 @@ static void method_overwrite(jl_typemap_entry_t *newentry, jl_method_t *oldvalue
         jl_printf(s, ".\n");
         jl_uv_flush(s);
     }
-    if (jl_generating_output())
-        jl_error("Method overwriting is not permitted during Module precompile.");
+    if (jl_generating_output()) {
+        jl_printf(JL_STDERR, "ERROR: Method overwriting is not permitted during Module precompilation. Use `__precompile__(false)` to opt-out of precompilation.\n");
+        jl_throw(jl_precompilable_error);
+    }
 }
 
 static void update_max_args(jl_methtable_t *mt, jl_value_t *type)
diff --git a/src/jl_exported_data.inc b/src/jl_exported_data.inc
index 092a48be81930..b9d4651ef24c0 100644
--- a/src/jl_exported_data.inc
+++ b/src/jl_exported_data.inc
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@
     XX(jl_voidpointer_type) \
     XX(jl_void_type) \
     XX(jl_weakref_type) \
+    XX(jl_precompilable_error) \
 
 // Data symbols that are defined inside the public libjulia
 #define JL_EXPORTED_DATA_SYMBOLS(XX) \
diff --git a/src/jltypes.c b/src/jltypes.c
index a39bc935fb181..d61a06b06f159 100644
--- a/src/jltypes.c
+++ b/src/jltypes.c
@@ -3410,6 +3410,7 @@ void post_boot_hooks(void)
     jl_methoderror_type    = (jl_datatype_t*)core("MethodError");
     jl_loaderror_type      = (jl_datatype_t*)core("LoadError");
     jl_initerror_type      = (jl_datatype_t*)core("InitError");
+    jl_precompilable_error = jl_new_struct_uninit((jl_datatype_t*)core("PrecompilableError"));
     jl_pair_type           = core("Pair");
     jl_kwcall_func         = core("kwcall");
     jl_kwcall_mt           = ((jl_datatype_t*)jl_typeof(jl_kwcall_func))->name->mt;
diff --git a/src/julia.h b/src/julia.h
index f4229eae909ac..6da03fb3d526a 100644
--- a/src/julia.h
+++ b/src/julia.h
@@ -829,6 +829,7 @@ extern JL_DLLIMPORT jl_value_t *jl_readonlymemory_exception JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 extern JL_DLLIMPORT jl_value_t *jl_diverror_exception JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 extern JL_DLLIMPORT jl_value_t *jl_undefref_exception JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 extern JL_DLLIMPORT jl_value_t *jl_interrupt_exception JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
+extern JL_DLLIMPORT jl_value_t *jl_precompilable_error JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 extern JL_DLLIMPORT jl_datatype_t *jl_boundserror_type JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 extern JL_DLLIMPORT jl_value_t *jl_an_empty_vec_any JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 extern JL_DLLIMPORT jl_value_t *jl_an_empty_string JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
diff --git a/src/staticdata.c b/src/staticdata.c
index a974d98a39835..aae64ae2ffb51 100644
--- a/src/staticdata.c
+++ b/src/staticdata.c
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ extern "C" {
 // TODO: put WeakRefs on the weak_refs list during deserialization
 // TODO: handle finalizers
 
-#define NUM_TAGS    158
+#define NUM_TAGS    159
 
 // An array of references that need to be restored from the sysimg
 // This is a manually constructed dual of the gvars array, which would be produced by codegen for Julia code, for C.
@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@ jl_value_t **const*const get_tags(void) {
         INSERT_TAG(jl_undefref_exception);
         INSERT_TAG(jl_readonlymemory_exception);
         INSERT_TAG(jl_atomicerror_type);
+        INSERT_TAG(jl_precompilable_error);
 
         // other special values
         INSERT_TAG(jl_emptysvec);
diff --git a/test/precompile.jl b/test/precompile.jl
index 82f445a115fee..e10d896da7d3f 100644
--- a/test/precompile.jl
+++ b/test/precompile.jl
@@ -504,6 +504,17 @@ precompile_test_harness(false) do dir
           """)
 
     @test Base.compilecache(Base.PkgId("Baz")) == Base.PrecompilableError() # due to __precompile__(false)
+
+    OverwriteMethodError_file = joinpath(dir, "OverwriteMethodError.jl")
+    write(OverwriteMethodError_file,
+          """
+          module OverwriteMethodError
+              Base.:(+)(x::Bool, y::Bool) = false
+          end
+          """)
+
+    @test Base.compilecache(Base.PkgId("OverwriteMethodError")) == Base.PrecompilableError() # due to piracy
+
     @eval using Baz
     @test Base.invokelatest(Baz.baz) == 1