diff --git a/compiler/parser/parser.cpp b/compiler/parser/parser.cpp
index f4ecb7aeb079..755571e44228 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/parser.cpp
+++ b/compiler/parser/parser.cpp
@@ -328,7 +328,27 @@ static void parseCommandLineFiles() {
   }
 
   while ((inputFileName = nthFilename(fileNum++))) {
-    if (isChplSource(inputFileName)) {
+    if (isChplSource(inputFileName))
+    {
+      /*
+      Selection of 16 is did so as to provide
+      enough space for generating files like .tmp.obj
+      whose length is 8 so selection of double the required
+      */
+      const size_t reductionMaxLength = 16;
+      /*
+      Ensure that all the files parsed don't exceed
+      (NAME_MAX - reductionMaxLength) e.g. 239 bytes on
+      unix and linux system.
+      */
+      const size_t maxFileName = NAME_MAX - reductionMaxLength;
+      if (strlen(inputFileName) > maxFileName)
+      {
+        // error message to print placeholders for fileName and maxLength
+        const char *errorMessage = "%s, filename is longer than maximum allowed length of %d\n";
+        // throwr error will concatenated messages
+        USR_FATAL(errorMessage, inputFileName, maxFileName);
+      }
       parseFile(inputFileName, MOD_USER, true, false);
     }
   }
diff --git a/test/parsing/.gitignore b/test/parsing/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..08945468a403
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parsing/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+**/nameLength/aaa*
+**/nameLength/longName.good
+**/nameLength/longNameHelper.*
diff --git a/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/CLEANFILES b/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/CLEANFILES
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1467b2e78f9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/CLEANFILES
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+aaaaaa*
+longName.good
+longNameHelper*
diff --git a/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/longName.chpl b/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/longName.chpl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3a23b4b2beb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/longName.chpl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+require "longNameHelper.chpl";
diff --git a/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/longName.precomp b/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/longName.precomp
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..6d7da1e83902
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/longName.precomp
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+NAME_MAX=`getconf NAME_MAX /`
+REDUCTIONMAXLENGTH=16
+LIMIT=$((NAME_MAX - REDUCTIONMAXLENGTH))
+OUTOFBOUND=$((LIMIT + 1))
+VAL="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )"
+
+repeatChar() {
+    local input="$1"
+    local count="$2"
+    printf -v myString "%*s" "$count"
+    printf '%s\n' "${myString// /$input}"
+}
+
+FILENAME=$(repeatChar a $OUTOFBOUND)
+printf 'module LongName {\n\tfunc printSomething() {\n\t\twrite(%s); \n\t}\n}' "'Won't Compile'" > $VAL/$FILENAME.chpl
+touch $VAL/$FILENAME.notest
+printf 'require %s;' "'$FILENAME.chpl'" > $VAL/longNameHelper.chpl
+touch $VAL/longNameHelper.notest
+printf "error: %s, filename is longer than maximum allowed length of %d\n\n" $FILENAME.chpl $LIMIT > $VAL/longName.good
diff --git a/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/shortName.chpl b/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/shortName.chpl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2ba0ea49daa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/shortName.chpl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+writeln("A short File Name");
diff --git a/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/shortName.good b/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/shortName.good
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4dc88bcf992f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parsing/errors/nameLength/shortName.good
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+A short File Name