diff --git a/src/openvpn/options.c b/src/openvpn/options.c
index 00ba6044..0d6b85cf 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/options.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/options.c
@@ -3076,8 +3076,12 @@ options_postprocess_verify(const struct options *o)
 static void
 options_postprocess_cipher(struct options *o)
 {
-    if (!o->pull && !(o->mode == MODE_SERVER))
+    if (!o->tls_server && !o->tls_client)
     {
+        /* we are in the classic P2P mode */
+        msg(M_WARN, "Cipher negotiation is disabled since TLS "
+                    "mode is not enabled");
+
         /* If the cipher is not set, use the old default of BF-CBC. We will
          * warn that this is deprecated on cipher initialisation, no need
          * to warn here as well */