diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteCache.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteCache.java
index 43f9994623069a..86ecbfcca11431 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteCache.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteCache.java
@@ -130,6 +130,9 @@ public boolean actionCacheSupportsUpdate() {
   /** Upload the action result to the remote cache. */
   public ListenableFuture<Void> uploadActionResult(
       RemoteActionExecutionContext context, ActionKey actionKey, ActionResult actionResult) {
+    Preconditions.checkState(
+        actionCacheSupportsUpdate(),
+        "Cannot upload action result to remote cache that does not support action cache updates");
 
     Completable upload =
         RxFutures.toCompletable(