diff --git a/compiler/noirc_frontend/src/hir/type_check/expr.rs b/compiler/noirc_frontend/src/hir/type_check/expr.rs
index e4d3a0be342..c720b87043c 100644
--- a/compiler/noirc_frontend/src/hir/type_check/expr.rs
+++ b/compiler/noirc_frontend/src/hir/type_check/expr.rs
@@ -1167,6 +1167,10 @@ impl<'interner> TypeChecker<'interner> {
 
         match op {
             crate::UnaryOp::Minus => {
+                if rhs_type.is_unsigned() {
+                    self.errors
+                        .push(TypeCheckError::InvalidUnaryOp { kind: rhs_type.to_string(), span });
+                }
                 let expected = Type::polymorphic_integer(self.interner);
                 rhs_type.unify(&expected, &mut self.errors, || TypeCheckError::InvalidUnaryOp {
                     kind: rhs_type.to_string(),
diff --git a/test_programs/compile_failure/negate_unsigned/Nargo.toml b/test_programs/compile_failure/negate_unsigned/Nargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0b5486024c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_programs/compile_failure/negate_unsigned/Nargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[package]
+name = "negate_unsigned"
+type = "bin"
+authors = [""]
+
+[dependencies]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test_programs/compile_failure/negate_unsigned/Prover.toml b/test_programs/compile_failure/negate_unsigned/Prover.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/test_programs/compile_failure/negate_unsigned/src/main.nr b/test_programs/compile_failure/negate_unsigned/src/main.nr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..db5f9b0820f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_programs/compile_failure/negate_unsigned/src/main.nr
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+use dep::std;
+
+fn main() {
+    let var = -1 as u8;
+    std::println(var);
+}