diff --git a/src/Mono.Android/Android.Runtime/JNIEnv.cs b/src/Mono.Android/Android.Runtime/JNIEnv.cs
index 8b004855ba8..d09c14c840c 100644
--- a/src/Mono.Android/Android.Runtime/JNIEnv.cs
+++ b/src/Mono.Android/Android.Runtime/JNIEnv.cs
@@ -170,6 +170,10 @@ public static unsafe void FinishCreateInstance (IntPtr instance, IntPtr jclass,
 
 		public static unsafe IntPtr StartCreateInstance (Type type, string jniCtorSignature, JValue* constructorParameters)
 		{
+			if (type.IsGenericTypeDefinition) {
+				throw new NotSupportedException (
+					"Constructing instances of generic types from Java is not supported, as the type parameters cannot be determined.");
+			}
 			return AllocObject (type);
 		}