diff --git a/base/gmp.jl b/base/gmp.jl
index ead80b56541a6..7cfcbd21e29da 100644
--- a/base/gmp.jl
+++ b/base/gmp.jl
@@ -705,7 +705,7 @@ function prod(arr::AbstractArray{BigInt})
     foldl(MPZ.mul!, arr; init)
 end
 
-factorial(x::BigInt) = isneg(x) ? BigInt(0) : MPZ.fac_ui(x)
+factorial(n::BigInt) = !isneg(n) ? MPZ.fac_ui(n) : throw(DomainError(n, "`n` must not be negative."))
 
 function binomial(n::BigInt, k::Integer)
     k < 0 && return BigInt(0)
diff --git a/test/gmp.jl b/test/gmp.jl
index 8bfe90ec7d9e4..13413abe55f9d 100644
--- a/test/gmp.jl
+++ b/test/gmp.jl
@@ -220,6 +220,8 @@ end
 end
 @testset "combinatorics" begin
     @test factorial(BigInt(40)) == parse(BigInt,"815915283247897734345611269596115894272000000000")
+    @test_throws DomainError factorial(BigInt(-1))
+    @test_throws DomainError factorial(BigInt(rand(-999:-2)))
     @test binomial(BigInt(1), -1) == BigInt(0)
     @test binomial(BigInt(1), 2)  == BigInt(0)
     @test binomial(BigInt(-53), 42) == parse(BigInt,"959509335087854414441273718")