diff --git a/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.cc b/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.cc
index 206f2ffe55..607844db71 100644
--- a/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.cc
+++ b/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.cc
@@ -3128,3 +3128,20 @@ NormalizeType parse_conf_normalize(Dictionary *dict) {
 }
 
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//
+// Print consistent error message and exit
+//
+///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+void python_compile_error(const char *caller) {
+
+   const char *method_name = (0 != caller) ? caller : "python_compile_error() -> ";
+
+   mlog << Error << "\n" << method_name
+        << "Support for Python has not been compiled!\n"
+        << "To run Python scripts, recompile with the --enable-python option.\n\n";
+
+   exit(1);
+}
+
+///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.h b/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.h
index 9debcd2d49..e69e27fb1c 100644
--- a/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.h
+++ b/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.h
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ extern ConcatString wavelettype_to_string(WaveletType);
 
 extern int parse_conf_percentile(Dictionary *dict);
 
+extern void python_compile_error(const char *caller=0);
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 #endif   /*  __CONFIG_UTIL_H__  */
diff --git a/src/libcode/vx_data2d_factory/data2d_factory.cc b/src/libcode/vx_data2d_factory/data2d_factory.cc
index a2cc01b8af..719a249b4f 100644
--- a/src/libcode/vx_data2d_factory/data2d_factory.cc
+++ b/src/libcode/vx_data2d_factory/data2d_factory.cc
@@ -104,10 +104,7 @@ MetPythonDataFile * p = 0;
       case FileType_Python_Numpy:
       case FileType_Python_Xarray:
 
-         mlog << Error << "\nMet2dDataFileFactory::new_met_2d_data_file() -> "
-              << "Support for Python has not been compiled!\n"
-              << "To run Python scripts, recompile with the --enable-python option.\n\n";
-         exit(1);
+         python_compile_error("Met2dDataFileFactory::new_met_2d_data_file() -> ");
 
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/libcode/vx_data2d_factory/var_info_factory.cc b/src/libcode/vx_data2d_factory/var_info_factory.cc
index c09d03265d..bdcee5a618 100644
--- a/src/libcode/vx_data2d_factory/var_info_factory.cc
+++ b/src/libcode/vx_data2d_factory/var_info_factory.cc
@@ -96,10 +96,7 @@ VarInfo * VarInfoFactory::new_var_info(GrdFileType type)
          p = 0;
          break;
 #else
-         mlog << Error << "\nVarInfoFactory::new_var_info() -> "
-              << "Support for Python has not been compiled!\n"
-              << "To run Python scripts, recompile with the --enable-python option.\n\n";
-         exit(1);
+         python_compile_error("VarInfoFactory::new_var_info() -> ");
 #endif
 
       case FileType_NcCF:
diff --git a/src/tools/core/ensemble_stat/ensemble_stat.cc b/src/tools/core/ensemble_stat/ensemble_stat.cc
index 6123c005fe..9826b9225b 100644
--- a/src/tools/core/ensemble_stat/ensemble_stat.cc
+++ b/src/tools/core/ensemble_stat/ensemble_stat.cc
@@ -907,11 +907,14 @@ void process_point_obs(int i_nc) {
    bool use_python = false;
    MetNcPointObsIn nc_point_obs;
    MetPointData *met_point_obs = 0;
-#ifdef WITH_PYTHON
-   MetPythonPointDataFile met_point_file;
+
+   // Check for python format
    string python_command = point_obs_file_list[i_nc];
    bool use_xarray = (0 == python_command.find(conf_val_python_xarray));
    use_python = use_xarray || (0 == python_command.find(conf_val_python_numpy));
+
+#ifdef WITH_PYTHON
+   MetPythonPointDataFile met_point_file;
    if (use_python) {
       int offset = python_command.find("=");
       if (offset == std::string::npos) {
@@ -932,6 +935,8 @@ void process_point_obs(int i_nc) {
       use_var_id = met_point_file.is_using_var_id();
    }
    else {
+#else
+   if (use_python) python_compile_error(method_name);
 #endif
       if(!nc_point_obs.open(point_obs_file_list[i_nc].c_str())) {
          nc_point_obs.close();
diff --git a/src/tools/core/point_stat/point_stat.cc b/src/tools/core/point_stat/point_stat.cc
index 94fd159536..257c06e86f 100644
--- a/src/tools/core/point_stat/point_stat.cc
+++ b/src/tools/core/point_stat/point_stat.cc
@@ -693,11 +693,14 @@ void process_obs_file(int i_nc) {
    bool use_python = false;
    MetNcPointObsIn nc_point_obs;
    MetPointData *met_point_obs = 0;
-#ifdef WITH_PYTHON
-   MetPythonPointDataFile met_point_file;
+
+   // Check for python format
    string python_command = obs_file[i_nc];
    bool use_xarray = (0 == python_command.find(conf_val_python_xarray));
    use_python = use_xarray || (0 == python_command.find(conf_val_python_numpy));
+
+#ifdef WITH_PYTHON
+   MetPythonPointDataFile met_point_file;
    if (use_python) {
       int offset = python_command.find("=");
       if (offset == std::string::npos) {
@@ -718,6 +721,8 @@ void process_obs_file(int i_nc) {
       use_var_id = met_point_file.is_using_var_id();
    }
    else {
+#else
+   if (use_python) python_compile_error(method_name);
 #endif
       if( !nc_point_obs.open(obs_file[i_nc].c_str()) ) {
          nc_point_obs.close();
diff --git a/src/tools/other/ascii2nc/ascii2nc.cc b/src/tools/other/ascii2nc/ascii2nc.cc
index e55753ca23..3ebd547f1a 100644
--- a/src/tools/other/ascii2nc/ascii2nc.cc
+++ b/src/tools/other/ascii2nc/ascii2nc.cc
@@ -601,6 +601,9 @@ void set_format(const StringArray & a) {
      ascii_format = ASCIIFormat_Python;
    }
    #endif
+   else if("python" == a[0]) {
+      python_compile_error("set_format() -> ");
+   }
    else {
       mlog << Error << "\nset_format() -> "
            << "unsupported ASCII observation format \""
diff --git a/src/tools/other/plot_point_obs/plot_point_obs.cc b/src/tools/other/plot_point_obs/plot_point_obs.cc
index 164d4304f7..6c60242ccb 100644
--- a/src/tools/other/plot_point_obs/plot_point_obs.cc
+++ b/src/tools/other/plot_point_obs/plot_point_obs.cc
@@ -154,11 +154,14 @@ void process_point_obs(const char *point_obs_filename) {
    bool use_python = false;
    MetNcPointObsIn nc_point_obs;
    MetPointData *met_point_obs = 0;
-#ifdef WITH_PYTHON
-   MetPythonPointDataFile met_point_file;
+
+   // Check for python format
    string python_command = point_obs_filename;
    bool use_xarray = (0 == python_command.find(conf_val_python_xarray));
    use_python = use_xarray || (0 == python_command.find(conf_val_python_numpy));
+
+#ifdef WITH_PYTHON
+   MetPythonPointDataFile met_point_file;
    if (use_python) {
       int offset = python_command.find("=");
       if (offset == std::string::npos) {
@@ -178,6 +181,8 @@ void process_point_obs(const char *point_obs_filename) {
       met_point_obs = met_point_file.get_met_point_data();
    }
    else
+#else
+   if (use_python) python_compile_error(method_name);
 #endif
    {
       if(!nc_point_obs.open(point_obs_filename)) {
diff --git a/src/tools/other/point2grid/point2grid.cc b/src/tools/other/point2grid/point2grid.cc
index 496e3384e0..c389a0c78c 100644
--- a/src/tools/other/point2grid/point2grid.cc
+++ b/src/tools/other/point2grid/point2grid.cc
@@ -282,11 +282,13 @@ void process_command_line(int argc, char **argv) {
    RGInfo.name    = cline[1];
    OutputFilename = cline[2];
 
-   // Check if the input file
-#ifdef WITH_PYTHON
+   // Check for python format
    string python_command = InputFilename;
    bool use_xarray = (0 == python_command.find(conf_val_python_xarray));
    bool use_python = use_xarray || (0 == python_command.find(conf_val_python_numpy));
+
+   // Check if the input file
+#ifdef WITH_PYTHON
    if (use_python) {
       int offset = python_command.find("=");
       if (offset == std::string::npos) {
@@ -296,6 +298,8 @@ void process_command_line(int argc, char **argv) {
       }
    }
    else
+#else
+   if (use_python) python_compile_error(method_name);
 #endif
       if ( !file_exists(InputFilename.c_str()) ) {
          mlog << Error << "\n" << method_name