Index: mlir/python/mlir/_mlir_libs/__init__.py
===================================================================
--- mlir/python/mlir/_mlir_libs/__init__.py
+++ mlir/python/mlir/_mlir_libs/__init__.py
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
   import importlib
   import itertools
   import logging
+  import sys
   from ._mlir import ir
   registry = ir.DialectRegistry()
   post_init_hooks = []
@@ -62,6 +63,12 @@
       m = importlib.import_module(f".{module_name}", __name__)
     except ModuleNotFoundError:
       return False
+    except ImportError:
+      message = (f"Error importing mlir initializer {module_name}. This may "
+      "happen in unclean incremental builds but is likely a real bug if "
+      "encountered otherwise and the MLIR Python API may not function.")
+      logging.critical(message, exc_info=True)
+      sys.exit(1)

     logging.debug("Initializing MLIR with module: %s", module_name)
     if hasattr(m, "register_dialects"):