diff --git a/build/ctags.go b/build/ctags.go
index 2763c231d..cd9a4e17d 100644
--- a/build/ctags.go
+++ b/build/ctags.go
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ func ctagsAddSymbolsParserMap(todo []*zoekt.Document, languageMap ctags.Language
 		parser := parserMap[parserKind]
 		if parser == nil {
 			parser = parserMap[ctags.UniversalCTags]
+			if parser == nil {
+				// this happens if CTagsMustSucceed is not true and we didn't find universal-ctags
+				continue
+			}
 		}
 
 		es, err := parser.Parse(doc.Name, doc.Content)
diff --git a/ctags/json.go b/ctags/json.go
index c5f802eed..bdff60d69 100644
--- a/ctags/json.go
+++ b/ctags/json.go
@@ -15,9 +15,11 @@
 package ctags
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
@@ -119,19 +121,41 @@ func (lp *lockedParser) close() {
 
 // NewParser creates a parser that is implemented by the given
 // universal-ctags binary. The parser is safe for concurrent use.
-func NewParser(bin string) (Parser, error) {
-	if strings.Contains(bin, "universal-ctags") || strings.Contains(bin, "scip-ctags") {
-		opts := goctags.Options{
-			Bin: bin,
+func NewParser(parserType CTagsParserType, bin string) (Parser, error) {
+	if err := checkBinary(parserType, bin); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	opts := goctags.Options{
+		Bin: bin,
+	}
+	if debug {
+		opts.Info = log.New(os.Stderr, "CTAGS INF: ", log.LstdFlags)
+		opts.Debug = log.New(os.Stderr, "CTAGS DBG: ", log.LstdFlags)
+	}
+	return &lockedParser{
+		opts: opts,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// checkBinary does checks on bin to ensure we can correctly use the binary
+// for symbols. It is more user friendly to fail early in this case.
+func checkBinary(typ CTagsParserType, bin string) error {
+	switch typ {
+	case UniversalCTags:
+		helpOutput, err := exec.Command(bin, "--help").CombinedOutput()
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to check if %s is universal-ctags: %w\n--help output:\n%s", bin, err, string(helpOutput))
 		}
-		if debug {
-			opts.Info = log.New(os.Stderr, "CTAGS INF: ", log.LstdFlags)
-			opts.Debug = log.New(os.Stderr, "CTAGS DBG: ", log.LstdFlags)
+		if !bytes.Contains(helpOutput, []byte("+interactive")) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("ctags binary is not universal-ctags or is not compiled with +interactive feature: bin=%s", bin)
+		}
+
+	case ScipCTags:
+		if !strings.Contains(bin, "scip-ctags") {
+			return fmt.Errorf("only supports scip-ctags, not %s", bin)
 		}
-		return &lockedParser{
-			opts: opts,
-		}, nil
 	}
 
-	return nil, fmt.Errorf("only supports universal-ctags, not %s", bin)
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/ctags/json_test.go b/ctags/json_test.go
index 67b4ff36b..5a6304f43 100644
--- a/ctags/json_test.go
+++ b/ctags/json_test.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ func TestJSON(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Skip(err)
 	}
 
-	p, err := NewParser("universal-ctags")
+	p, err := NewParser(UniversalCTags, "universal-ctags")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal("newProcess", err)
 	}
diff --git a/ctags/parser_map.go b/ctags/parser_map.go
index 8f8d040a9..b7756648a 100644
--- a/ctags/parser_map.go
+++ b/ctags/parser_map.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func NewParserMap(bins ParserBinMap, cTagsMustSucceed bool) (ParserMap, error) {
 	for _, parserType := range []CTagsParserType{UniversalCTags, ScipCTags} {
 		bin := bins[parserType]
 		if bin != "" {
-			parser, err := NewParser(bin)
+			parser, err := NewParser(parserType, bin)
 
 			if err != nil && cTagsMustSucceed {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("ctags.NewParserMap: %v", err)