@@ -696,6 +696,9 @@ def _get_callee_args(call_expr, callee, loc, func_ir):
     """
     if call_expr.op == 'call':
         args = list(call_expr.args)
+        if call_expr.vararg:
+            msg = "Calling a closure with *args is unsupported."
+            raise errors.UnsupportedError(msg, call_expr.loc)
     elif call_expr.op == 'getattr':
         args = [call_expr.value]
     elif ir_utils.is_operator_or_getitem(call_expr):
 
@@ -364,21 +364,28 @@ def inner2(f, x):
             return inner2(inner, x)
 
         def outer20(x):
-            #""" Test calling numpy in closure """
+            """ Test calling numpy in closure """
             z = x + 1
 
             def inner(x):
                 return x + numpy.cos(z)
             return inner(x)
 
         def outer21(x):
-            #""" Test calling numpy import as in closure """
+            """ Test calling numpy import as in closure """
             z = x + 1
 
             def inner(x):
                 return x + np.cos(z)
             return inner(x)
 
+        def outer22():
+            """Test to ensure that unsupported *args raises correctly"""
+            def bar(a, b):
+                pass
+            x = 1, 2
+            bar(*x)
+
         # functions to test that are expected to pass
         f = [outer1, outer2, outer5, outer6, outer7, outer8,
              outer9, outer10, outer12, outer13, outer14,
@@ -425,6 +432,12 @@ def inner(x):
         msg = "The use of yield in a closure is unsupported."
         self.assertIn(msg, str(raises.exception))
 
+        with self.assertRaises(UnsupportedError) as raises:
+            cfunc = jit(nopython=True)(outer22)
+            cfunc()
+        msg = "Calling a closure with *args is unsupported."
+        self.assertIn(msg, str(raises.exception))
+
 
 class TestObjmodeFallback(TestCase):
     # These are all based on tests from real life issues where, predominantly,