diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/bdist_wininst.py b/Lib/distutils/command/bdist_wininst.py
index fde5675..7a788bd 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/bdist_wininst.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/bdist_wininst.py
@@ -357,7 +357,10 @@ class bdist_wininst(Command):
             sfix = ''
 
         filename = os.path.join(directory, "wininst-%s%s.exe" % (bv, sfix))
-        f = open(filename, "rb")
+        try:
+            f = open(filename, "rb")
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            raise DistutilsFileError("wininst executables are not installed. Download python sources and copy wininst*.exe files from <sources_dir>/Lib/distutils/command/ to %s" % directory)
         try:
             return f.read()
         finally:

