A microelectromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope sensor has a sensing mass and a quadrature error compensation control loop for applying a force to the sensing mass to cancel quadrature error. To detect fault, the quadrature error compensation control loop is opened and an additional force is applied to produce a physical displacement of the sensing mass. A quadrature error resulting from the physical displacement of the sensing mass in response to the applied additional force is sensed. The sensed quadrature error is compared to an expected value corresponding to the applied additional force and a fault alert is generated if the comparison is not satisfied.