diff --git a/src/asm/section.c b/src/asm/section.c
index ee5d5144..d2cbfd8f 100644
--- a/src/asm/section.c
+++ b/src/asm/section.c
@@ -378,6 +378,7 @@ uint32_t sect_GetOutputOffset(void)
 
 void sect_AlignPC(uint8_t alignment, uint16_t offset)
 {
+	checksection();
 	struct Section *sect = sect_GetSymbolSection();
 
 	if (sect->org != -1) {
diff --git a/test/asm/align-pc-outside-section.asm b/test/asm/align-pc-outside-section.asm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2fc56122
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/asm/align-pc-outside-section.asm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+align 1
diff --git a/test/asm/align-pc-outside-section.err b/test/asm/align-pc-outside-section.err
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4640ff9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/asm/align-pc-outside-section.err
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+FATAL: align-pc-outside-section.asm(1):
+    Code generation before SECTION directive
diff --git a/test/asm/align-pc-outside-section.out b/test/asm/align-pc-outside-section.out
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b