diff --git a/src/diagnosticMessages.json b/src/diagnosticMessages.json
index 5ff99ccc9e..5c9a03e6f2 100644
--- a/src/diagnosticMessages.json
+++ b/src/diagnosticMessages.json
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
   "Shared memory requires feature 'threads' to be enabled.": 108,
   "Transform '{0}': {1}": 109,
   "Start function name '{0}' is invalid or conflicts with another export.": 110,
+  "Element '{0}' not found.": 111,
 
   "Conversion from type '{0}' to '{1}' requires an explicit cast.": 200,
   "Conversion from type '{0}' to '{1}' will require an explicit cast when switching between 32/64-bit.": 201,
diff --git a/src/program.ts b/src/program.ts
index 6bb1dea523..4e28ba2478 100644
--- a/src/program.ts
+++ b/src/program.ts
@@ -1421,7 +1421,7 @@ export class Program extends DiagnosticEmitter {
           if (elementsByName.has(name)) {
             elementsByName.set(alias, assert(elementsByName.get(name)));
           } else {
-            throw new Error("no such global element: " + name);
+            this.error(DiagnosticCode.Element_0_not_found, null, name);
           }
         }
       }