diff --git a/lib/configure.js b/lib/configure.js
index ee672cfbf2..361244a37b 100644
--- a/lib/configure.js
+++ b/lib/configure.js
@@ -311,9 +311,37 @@ async function configure (gyp, argv) {
     process.env.PYTHONPATH = pypath.join(win ? ';' : ':')
 
     await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-      const cp = gyp.spawn(python, argv)
+      // Capture gyp's stderr (still forwarded to the terminal) so we can
+      // recognise known failure modes and print actionable hints.
+      const cp = gyp.spawn(python, argv, { stdio: ['inherit', 'inherit', 'pipe'] })
+      let gypStderr = ''
+      if (cp.stderr) {
+        cp.stderr.on('data', (chunk) => {
+          gypStderr += chunk
+          process.stderr.write(chunk)
+        })
+      }
       cp.on('exit', (code) => {
         if (code !== 0) {
+          // Only hint when the undefined variable comes from the Node/NDK
+          // header toolchain (android_ndk_* variables, or any variable while
+          // loading common.gypi), not when a binding.gyp itself references an
+          // undefined variable — that is a project bug and this hint would
+          // send the user down the wrong path.
+          const ndkHint = process.platform === 'android' &&
+            isNdkUndefinedVariableHint(gypStderr)
+          if (ndkHint) {
+            log.error('gyp', [
+              'The Node headers downloaded for this target reference NDK',
+              'variables, but no NDK is installed. On Android (e.g. Termux)',
+              'you usually want to compile against the system toolchain instead:',
+              'make sure node-gyp uses the locally installed headers',
+              '($PREFIX/include/node) rather than the official ones downloaded',
+              'from nodejs.org, e.g. by rebuilding Node with',
+              '--use-prefix-to-find-headers or by passing --nodedir pointing at',
+              'your local headers.'
+            ].join('\n'))
+          }
           reject(new Error('`gyp` failed with exit code: ' + code))
         } else {
           // we're done
@@ -324,5 +352,20 @@ async function configure (gyp, argv) {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Detect the "Undefined variable" gyp failure that comes from the Node/NDK
+ * header toolchain (android_ndk_* variables, or any undefined variable while
+ * loading common.gypi) rather than from the project's own binding.gyp.
+ * Exported for tests.
+ * @param {string} gypStderr - captured gyp stderr (also forwarded to the
+ * terminal byte-for-byte by the caller).
+ * @returns {boolean}
+ */
+function isNdkUndefinedVariableHint (gypStderr) {
+  return /Undefined variable android_ndk_/.test(gypStderr) ||
+    /Undefined variable [A-Za-z0-9_]+ in .*common\.gypi/.test(gypStderr)
+}
+
 module.exports = configure
+module.exports.isNdkUndefinedVariableHint = isNdkUndefinedVariableHint
 module.exports.usage = 'Generates ' + (win ? 'MSVC project files' : 'a Makefile') + ' for the current module'
diff --git a/test/test-ndk-undefined-variable-hint.js b/test/test-ndk-undefined-variable-hint.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c4f69e39d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-ndk-undefined-variable-hint.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+'use strict'
+
+const { describe, it } = require('mocha')
+const assert = require('assert')
+const configure = require('../lib/configure')
+
+const isHint = configure.isNdkUndefinedVariableHint
+
+describe('isNdkUndefinedVariableHint', function () {
+  it('detects the android_ndk_path failure from the official headers', function () {
+    const stderr = 'gyp: Undefined variable android_ndk_path in binding.gyp while trying to load binding.gyp\n'
+    assert.strictEqual(isHint(stderr), true)
+  })
+
+  it('detects other android_ndk_* variables', function () {
+    const stderr = 'gyp: Undefined variable android_ndk_include_dir in binding.gyp while trying to load binding.gyp\n'
+    assert.strictEqual(isHint(stderr), true)
+  })
+
+  it('detects an undefined variable while loading common.gypi', function () {
+    const stderr = 'gyp: Undefined variable some_var in /usr/include/node/common.gypi while trying to load binding.gyp\n'
+    assert.strictEqual(isHint(stderr), true)
+  })
+
+  it('ignores an undefined variable in the project binding.gyp', function () {
+    const stderr = 'gyp: Undefined variable my_custom_flag in binding.gyp while trying to load binding.gyp\n'
+    assert.strictEqual(isHint(stderr), false)
+  })
+
+  it('ignores unrelated gyp errors', function () {
+    const stderr = "gyp: 'x' doesn't look like a valid filename\n"
+    assert.strictEqual(isHint(stderr), false)
+  })
+
+  it('ignores empty stderr', function () {
+    assert.strictEqual(isHint(''), false)
+  })
+})