diff --git a/vita3k/CMakeLists.txt b/vita3k/CMakeLists.txt
index eceb00a64c..a20559f33d 100644
--- a/vita3k/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/vita3k/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -131,7 +131,12 @@ add_subdirectory(vkutil)
 
 add_executable(vita3k MACOSX_BUNDLE main.cpp interface.cpp interface.h performance.cpp)
 
-target_link_libraries(vita3k PRIVATE app config cppcommon ctrl display gdbstub gui gxm io miniz modules packages renderer shader touch)
+if(WIN32)
+	# This file is a bit special, it is run before anything else and must be added here
+	target_sources(vita3k PRIVATE util/src/vc_runtime_checker.cpp)
+endif()
+
+target_link_libraries(vita3k PRIVATE app config cppcommon ctrl display gdbstub gui gxm io miniz modules packages renderer shader touch util)
 if(USE_DISCORD_RICH_PRESENCE)
 	target_link_libraries(vita3k PRIVATE discord-rpc)
 endif()
diff --git a/vita3k/util/CMakeLists.txt b/vita3k/util/CMakeLists.txt
index 37fb99f740..e477711d86 100644
--- a/vita3k/util/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/vita3k/util/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ add_library(
 	src/tracy.cpp
 )
 
+# vc_runtime_checker.cpp is directly added from the main CMakeList (for some reason adding it here doesn't work)
+
 target_include_directories(util PUBLIC include)
 target_link_libraries(util PUBLIC ${Boost_LIBRARIES} config fmt spdlog http mem)
 target_link_libraries(util PRIVATE libcurl crypto)
diff --git a/vita3k/util/src/vc_runtime_checker.cpp b/vita3k/util/src/vc_runtime_checker.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a57eda0318
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vita3k/util/src/vc_runtime_checker.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2002-2023 PCSX2 Dev Team
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-3.0+
+
+#pragma comment(lib, "Version.lib")
+
+#include <cstdint>
+
+#include <Windows.h>
+#include <winver.h>
+#include <shellapi.h>
+
+#include <fmt/format.h>
+
+// Minimum version is 14.38.33135.0.
+static constexpr uint64_t MIN_VERSION_V0 = 14;
+static constexpr uint64_t MIN_VERSION_V1 = 38;
+static constexpr uint64_t MIN_VERSION_V2 = 33135;
+static constexpr uint64_t MIN_VERSION_V3 = 0;
+static constexpr uint64_t MIN_VERSION = (MIN_VERSION_V0 << 48) | (MIN_VERSION_V1 << 32) | (MIN_VERSION_V2 << 16) | MIN_VERSION_V3;
+static constexpr const char *DOWNLOAD_URL = "https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe";
+
+struct VCRuntimeCheckObject {
+    VCRuntimeCheckObject() {
+        const HMODULE crt_handle = GetModuleHandleW(L"msvcp140.dll");
+        if (!crt_handle)
+            return;
+
+        const HANDLE heap = GetProcessHeap();
+        DWORD filename_length = MAX_PATH;
+        LPWSTR filename = static_cast<LPWSTR>(HeapAlloc(heap, 0, filename_length));
+        if (!filename)
+            return;
+
+        for (;;) {
+            DWORD len = GetModuleFileNameW(crt_handle, filename, filename_length);
+            if (len == filename_length && GetLastError() == ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER) {
+                filename_length *= 2;
+                if (filename_length >= 4 * 1024)
+                    return;
+                LPWSTR new_filename = static_cast<LPWSTR>(HeapReAlloc(heap, 0, filename, filename_length));
+                if (!new_filename) {
+                    HeapFree(heap, 0, filename);
+                    return;
+                }
+                filename = new_filename;
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            break;
+        }
+
+        const DWORD version_size = GetFileVersionInfoSizeExW(0, filename, nullptr);
+        LPVOID version_block;
+        if (version_size == 0 || !(version_block = HeapAlloc(heap, 0, version_size))) {
+            HeapFree(heap, 0, filename);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        VS_FIXEDFILEINFO *fi;
+        UINT fi_size;
+        if (!GetFileVersionInfoExW(0, filename, 0, version_size, version_block) || !VerQueryValueW(version_block, L"\\", reinterpret_cast<LPVOID *>(&fi), &fi_size)) {
+            HeapFree(heap, 0, version_block);
+            HeapFree(heap, 0, filename);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        const DWORD v0 = (fi->dwFileVersionMS >> 16) & 0xFFFFu;
+        const DWORD v1 = fi->dwFileVersionMS & 0xFFFFu;
+        const DWORD v2 = (fi->dwFileVersionLS >> 16) & 0xFFFFu;
+        const DWORD v3 = fi->dwFileVersionLS & 0xFFFFu;
+        const uint64_t version = (static_cast<uint64_t>(fi->dwFileVersionMS) << 32) | fi->dwFileVersionLS;
+
+        HeapFree(heap, 0, version_block);
+        HeapFree(heap, 0, filename);
+
+        if (version >= MIN_VERSION)
+            return;
+
+        // fmt is self-contained, hopefully it'll be okay.
+        char message[512];
+        const auto fmt_result = fmt::format_to_n(message, sizeof(message),
+            "Your Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime appears to be too old for this build of PCSX2.\n\n"
+            "Your version: {}.{}.{}.{}\n"
+            "Required version: {}.{}.{}.{}\n\n"
+            "You can download the latest version from {}.\n\n"
+            "Do you want to exit and download this version now?\n"
+            "If you select No, PCSX2 will likely crash.",
+            v0, v1, v2, v3, MIN_VERSION_V0, MIN_VERSION_V1, MIN_VERSION_V2, MIN_VERSION_V3, DOWNLOAD_URL);
+        message[(fmt_result.size > (sizeof(message) - 1)) ? (sizeof(message) - 1) : fmt_result.size] = 0;
+
+        if (MessageBoxA(NULL, message, "Old Visual C++ Runtime Detected", MB_ICONERROR | MB_YESNO) == IDNO)
+            return;
+
+        if (!ShellExecuteA(NULL, "open", DOWNLOAD_URL, nullptr, nullptr, SW_SHOWNORMAL))
+            MessageBoxA(NULL, "ShellExecuteA() failed, you may need to manually open the URL.", "Error", MB_OK);
+
+        TerminateProcess(GetCurrentProcess(), 0xFFFFFFFF);
+    }
+};
+
+// We have to use a special object which gets initialized before all other global objects, because those might use the
+// CRT and go kaboom. Yucky, but gets the job done.
+#pragma optimize("", off)
+#pragma warning(disable : 4075) // warning C4075: initializers put in unrecognized initialization area
+#pragma init_seg(".CRT$XCT")
+VCRuntimeCheckObject s_vcruntime_checker;