diff --git a/apps/enc.c b/apps/enc.c
index 928d16bcc..75d97bbc2 100644
--- a/apps/enc.c
+++ b/apps/enc.c
@@ -339,6 +339,12 @@ bad:
 		goto end;
 		}
 
+	if (cipher && (EVP_CIPHER_mode(cipher) == EVP_CIPH_XTS_MODE))
+		{
+		BIO_printf(bio_err, "Ciphers in XTS mode are not supported by the enc utility\n");
+		goto end;
+		}
+
 	if (md && (dgst=EVP_get_digestbyname(md)) == NULL)
 		{
 		BIO_printf(bio_err,"%s is an unsupported message digest type\n",md);