diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/NodePlugin.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/NodePlugin.kt
index 3d94e47c..36309bcf 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/NodePlugin.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/NodePlugin.kt
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import com.github.gradle.node.npm.task.NpmTask
 import com.github.gradle.node.npm.task.NpxTask
 import com.github.gradle.node.task.NodeSetupTask
 import com.github.gradle.node.task.NodeTask
+import com.github.gradle.node.util.PlatformHelper
 import com.github.gradle.node.variant.VariantComputer
 import com.github.gradle.node.yarn.task.YarnInstallTask
 import com.github.gradle.node.yarn.task.YarnSetupTask
@@ -30,6 +31,9 @@ class NodePlugin : Plugin<Project> {
         addYarnRule()
         project.afterEvaluate {
             if (nodeExtension.download.get()) {
+                // Ideally we wouldn't have to do this here, but if we don't
+                // then we're going to have some interesting failures down the line
+                PlatformHelper.INSTANCE.failOnUnsupportedOs()
                 nodeExtension.distBaseUrl.orNull?.let { addRepository(it) }
                 configureNodeSetupTask(nodeExtension)
             }
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/task/NodeSetupTask.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/task/NodeSetupTask.kt
index 296ea619..a6c58406 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/task/NodeSetupTask.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/task/NodeSetupTask.kt
@@ -49,11 +49,16 @@ abstract class NodeSetupTask : DefaultTask() {
 
     @TaskAction
     fun exec() {
+        failIfUnsupportedPlatform()
         deleteExistingNode()
         unpackNodeArchive()
         setExecutableFlag()
     }
 
+    private fun failIfUnsupportedPlatform() {
+        PlatformHelper.INSTANCE.failOnUnsupportedOs()
+    }
+
     private fun deleteExistingNode() {
         projectHelper.delete {
             delete(nodeDir.get().dir("../"))
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/util/PlatformHelper.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/util/PlatformHelper.kt
index b4bfdf7c..1cde2ba3 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/util/PlatformHelper.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/github/gradle/node/util/PlatformHelper.kt
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ open class PlatformHelper constructor(private val props: Properties = System.get
             name.contains("windows") -> "win"
             name.contains("mac") -> "darwin"
             name.contains("linux") -> "linux"
-            name.contains("freebsd") -> "linux"
             name.contains("sunos") -> "sunos"
-            else -> error("Unsupported OS: $name")
+            else -> "unsupported"
         }
     }
 
@@ -32,6 +31,14 @@ open class PlatformHelper constructor(private val props: Properties = System.get
 
     open val isWindows: Boolean by lazy { osName == "win" }
 
+    open val isSupported: Boolean by lazy { osName != "unsupported" }
+
+    fun failOnUnsupportedOs() {
+        if (!isSupported) {
+            error("Unsupported OS for `download = true`")
+        }
+    }
+
     private fun property(name: String): String {
         val value = props.getProperty(name)
         return value ?: System.getProperty(name) ?:
@@ -48,6 +55,11 @@ open class PlatformHelper constructor(private val props: Properties = System.get
 fun main(args: Array<String>) {
     println("Your os.name is: '${System.getProperty("os.name")}' and is parsed as: ${PlatformHelper.INSTANCE.osName}")
     println("Your os.arch is: '${System.getProperty("os.arch")}' and is parsed as: ${PlatformHelper.INSTANCE.osArch}")
+    if (!PlatformHelper.INSTANCE.isSupported) {
+        println("Your platform is \"unsupported\" (isSupported == false)")
+        println("Your platform does not support 'download = true' as there's no official Node.js binaries" +
+                " being published for it. You can still use the plugin, but you need to install Node.js manually")
+    }
     if (PlatformHelper.INSTANCE.isWindows) {
         println("You're on windows (isWindows == true)")
     } else {
diff --git a/src/test/groovy/com/github/gradle/node/util/PlatformHelperTest.groovy b/src/test/groovy/com/github/gradle/node/util/PlatformHelperTest.groovy
index 03bd8031..e350baee 100644
--- a/src/test/groovy/com/github/gradle/node/util/PlatformHelperTest.groovy
+++ b/src/test/groovy/com/github/gradle/node/util/PlatformHelperTest.groovy
@@ -22,18 +22,20 @@ class PlatformHelperTest extends Specification {
         this.helper.getOsName() == osName
         this.helper.getOsArch() == osArch
         this.helper.isWindows() == isWindows
+        this.helper.isSupported() == isSupported
 
         where:
-        osProp      | archProp  | osName   | osArch    | isWindows
-        'Windows 8' | 'x86'     | 'win'    | 'x86'     | true
-        'Windows 8' | 'x86_64'  | 'win'    | 'x64'     | true
-        'Mac OS X'  | 'x86'     | 'darwin' | 'x86'     | false
-        'Mac OS X'  | 'x86_64'  | 'darwin' | 'x64'     | false
-        'Linux'     | 'x86'     | 'linux'  | 'x86'     | false
-        'Linux'     | 'x86_64'  | 'linux'  | 'x64'     | false
-        'Linux'     | 'ppc64le' | 'linux'  | 'ppc64le' | false
-        'SunOS'     | 'x86'     | 'sunos'  | 'x86'     | false
-        'SunOS'     | 'x86_64'  | 'sunos'  | 'x64'     | false
+        osProp      | archProp  | osName        | osArch    | isWindows | isSupported
+        'Windows 8' | 'x86'     | 'win'         | 'x86'     | true      | true
+        'Windows 8' | 'x86_64'  | 'win'         | 'x64'     | true      | true
+        'Mac OS X'  | 'x86'     | 'darwin'      | 'x86'     | false     | true
+        'Mac OS X'  | 'x86_64'  | 'darwin'      | 'x64'     | false     | true
+        'Linux'     | 'x86'     | 'linux'       | 'x86'     | false     | true
+        'Linux'     | 'x86_64'  | 'linux'       | 'x64'     | false     | true
+        'Linux'     | 'ppc64le' | 'linux'       | 'ppc64le' | false     | true
+        'SunOS'     | 'x86'     | 'sunos'       | 'x86'     | false     | true
+        'SunOS'     | 'x86_64'  | 'sunos'       | 'x64'     | false     | true
+        'FreeBSD'   | 'amd64'   | 'unsupported' | 'x64'     | false     | false
     }
 
     @Unroll
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ class PlatformHelperTest extends Specification {
         this.props.setProperty("os.name", 'Nonsense')
 
         when:
-        this.helper.getOsName()
+        this.helper.failOnUnsupportedOs()
 
         then:
         thrown(IllegalStateException)
diff --git a/src/test/groovy/com/github/gradle/node/variant/VariantComputerTest.groovy b/src/test/groovy/com/github/gradle/node/variant/VariantComputerTest.groovy
index c7c9b50f..4c5ceb4e 100644
--- a/src/test/groovy/com/github/gradle/node/variant/VariantComputerTest.groovy
+++ b/src/test/groovy/com/github/gradle/node/variant/VariantComputerTest.groovy
@@ -105,8 +105,6 @@ class VariantComputerTest extends Specification {
         'Linux'    | 'ppc64le' | 'node-v5.12.0-linux-ppc64le' | 'org.nodejs:node:5.12.0:linux-ppc64le@tar.gz'
         'Mac OS X' | 'x86'     | 'node-v5.12.0-darwin-x86'    | 'org.nodejs:node:5.12.0:darwin-x86@tar.gz'
         'Mac OS X' | 'x86_64'  | 'node-v5.12.0-darwin-x64'    | 'org.nodejs:node:5.12.0:darwin-x64@tar.gz'
-        'FreeBSD'  | 'x86'     | 'node-v5.12.0-linux-x86'     | 'org.nodejs:node:5.12.0:linux-x86@tar.gz'
-        'FreeBSD'  | 'x86_64'  | 'node-v5.12.0-linux-x64'     | 'org.nodejs:node:5.12.0:linux-x64@tar.gz'
         'SunOS'    | 'x86'     | 'node-v5.12.0-sunos-x86'     | 'org.nodejs:node:5.12.0:sunos-x86@tar.gz'
         'SunOS'    | 'x86_64'  | 'node-v5.12.0-sunos-x64'     | 'org.nodejs:node:5.12.0:sunos-x64@tar.gz'
     }