diff --git a/common.php b/common.php
index 9a8f2231..3b7d91c3 100644
--- a/common.php
+++ b/common.php
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ $incpath = dirname(__FILE__);
 (ini_get('magic_quotes_gpc') ? ini_set('magic_quotes_runtime', '0') : '1');
 (ini_get('magic_quotes_gpc') ? ini_set('magic_quotes_sybase', '0') : '1');
 
+if(ini_get('register_globals')) {
+    die("Please turn off register_globals; edit your php.ini");
+}
 require_once("$incpath/variables.inc.php");
 if(!is_file("$incpath/config.inc.php")) {
     // incorrectly setup...