diff --git a/hacking/Makefile b/hacking/Makefile
index 58a9df17d..c013ba71b 100644
--- a/hacking/Makefile
+++ b/hacking/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 VERBOSE ?= 0
 COMPOSE_FILE ?= compose.yml
+DOCKER_MISSING := $(shell ./scripts/check-docker.sh)
+DOCKER_VERSION := $(shell docker -v)
 
 .DEFAULT_GOAL := help
 
@@ -7,6 +9,9 @@ COMPOSE_FILE ?= compose.yml
 ##@ Local network management commands
 ##@
 start: ##@ Start local network
+ifeq ($(DOCKER_MISSING),1)
+	$(error Docker is not installed. Please install docker before proceeding. See https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/)
+endif
 ifeq ($(VERBOSE),0)
 	./scripts/start_node.sh
 else
@@ -14,6 +19,9 @@ else
 endif
 
 stop: ##@ Stop local network
+ifeq ($(DOCKER_MISSING),1)
+	$(error Docker is not installed. Please install docker before proceeding. See https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/)
+endif
 	docker compose --file $(COMPOSE_FILE) down --volumes --remove-orphans
 
 
@@ -51,10 +59,17 @@ help: ##@ (Default) Print listing of key targets with their descriptions
 			printf "    \033[34m%-27s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2; \
 	}'
 
-build: ## Build docker image used to run the local network and the attacks
+build: check ## Build docker image used to run the local network and the attacks
 	## Only supported for the development mode with COMPOSE_FILE=dev.yml
 	docker compose --file $(COMPOSE_FILE) build
 
+check-docker: ##@ Check if docker is installed
+ifeq ($(DOCKER_MISSING),1)
+	$(error Docker is not installed. Please install docker before proceeding. See https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/)
+else
+	@echo $(DOCKER_VERSION)
+endif
+
 clean:
 	-rm -rf \
 		adv_key \
diff --git a/hacking/scripts/check-docker.sh b/hacking/scripts/check-docker.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..c945017c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hacking/scripts/check-docker.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+if [ -x "$(command -v docker)" ];
+then
+    echo 0
+else
+    echo 1
+fi