diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
index 7df2b2ff86..c1ced941a8 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
@@ -219,6 +219,9 @@ public class DatabaseDescriptor
             if (conf.authorizer != null)
                 authorizer = FBUtilities.newAuthorizer(conf.authorizer);
 
+            if (authenticator instanceof AllowAllAuthenticator && !(authorizer instanceof AllowAllAuthorizer))
+                throw new ConfigurationException("AllowAllAuthenticator can't be used with " +  conf.authorizer);
+
             if (conf.internode_authenticator != null)
                 internodeAuthenticator = FBUtilities.construct(conf.internode_authenticator, "internode_authenticator");
             else