diff --git a/python/paddle/utils/cpp_extension/extension_utils.py b/python/paddle/utils/cpp_extension/extension_utils.py
index f085eac1e358dd90e6377e015e360fc86ab6ca5c..853a98a62b504d94617127bd35212d2412719e1c 100644
--- a/python/paddle/utils/cpp_extension/extension_utils.py
+++ b/python/paddle/utils/cpp_extension/extension_utils.py
@@ -449,8 +449,8 @@ def _get_include_dirs_when_compiling(compile_dir):
     include_dirs_file = 'includes.txt'
     path = os.path.abspath(compile_dir)
     include_dirs_file = os.path.join(path, include_dirs_file)
-    if not os.path.isfile(include_dirs_file):
-        return []
+    assert os.path.isfile(include_dirs_file), "File {} does not exist".format(
+        include_dirs_file)
     with open(include_dirs_file, 'r') as f:
         include_dirs = [line.strip() for line in f.readlines() if line.strip()]