diff --git a/cdist/conf/lib/errors.sh b/cdist/conf/lib/errors.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0aa0437a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/lib/errors.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+__cdist_unsupported_os() {
+    if [ $# -gt 0 ]
+    then
+        os=$1
+        shift
+    else
+        os=$(cat "$__explorer/os")
+    fi
+	printf "Your operating system \"%s\" is currently not supported.\nPlease contribute an implementation for it if you can.\n" "${os}" >&2
+	exit 1
+}
+
+__cdist_error() {
+    printf "$@" >&2
+    exit 1
+}