diff --git a/book/src/getting-started.md b/book/src/getting-started.md
index 857aafe87..e5311ce76 100644
--- a/book/src/getting-started.md
+++ b/book/src/getting-started.md
@@ -41,6 +41,12 @@ $ git checkout $TAG
 
 ### Configuration Setup
 
+Ensure important programs such as the vote program are built before any
+nodes are started
+```bash
+$ cargo build --all
+```
+
 The network is initialized with a genesis ledger and fullnode configuration files.
 These files can be generated by running the following script.