diff --git a/scripts/multiconfig.sh b/scripts/multiconfig.sh
index 49fcfad3c13d62d10a31d4e8fdfb2e1ddce0bf51..4a8737f3521d5686cd83fddada363244058ea4cd 100644
--- a/scripts/multiconfig.sh
+++ b/scripts/multiconfig.sh
@@ -252,6 +252,35 @@ do_savedefconfig () {
 	IFS=$save_IFS
 }
 
+# Some sanity checks before running "make <objdir>/<target>",
+# where <objdir> should be either "spl" or "tpl".
+# Doing "make spl/menuconfig" etc. on a non-SPL board makes no sense.
+# It should be allowed only when ".config" exists and "CONFIG_SPL" is enabled.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   check_enabled_sumbimage <objdir>/<target> <objdir>
+check_enabled_subimage () {
+
+	case $2 in
+	spl|tpl) ;;
+	*)
+		echo >&2 "***"
+		echo >&2 "*** \"make $1\" is not supported."
+		echo >&2 "***"
+		exit 1
+		;;
+	esac
+	test -r "$KCONFIG_CONFIG" && get_enabled_subimages | grep -q $2 || {
+		config=CONFIG_$(echo $2 | tr '[a-z]' '[A-Z]')
+
+		echo >&2 "***"
+		echo >&2 "*** Create \"$KCONFIG_CONFIG\" with \"$config\" enabled"
+		echo >&2 "*** before \"make $1\"."
+		echo >&2 "***"
+		exit 1
+	}
+}
+
 # Usage:
 #   do_others <objdir>/<target>
 # The field "<objdir>/" is typically empy, "spl/", "tpl/" for Normal, SPL, TPL,
@@ -265,6 +294,7 @@ do_others () {
 		objdir=
 	else
 		objdir=${1%/*}
+		check_enabled_subimage $1 $objdir
 	fi
 
 	run_make_config $target $objdir