diff --git a/src/Storages/MergeTree/MergeTreeData.cpp b/src/Storages/MergeTree/MergeTreeData.cpp
index 71e5afe70dd..a4fb314d5d9 100644
--- a/src/Storages/MergeTree/MergeTreeData.cpp
+++ b/src/Storages/MergeTree/MergeTreeData.cpp
@@ -884,7 +884,15 @@ void checkSpecialColumn(const std::string_view column_meta_name, const AlterComm
 {
     if (command.type == AlterCommand::MODIFY_COLUMN)
     {
-        if (!typeid_cast<const TMustHaveDataType *>(command.data_type.get()))
+        if (!command.data_type)
+        {
+            throw Exception(
+                ErrorCodes::ALTER_OF_COLUMN_IS_FORBIDDEN,
+                "Trying to modify settings for column {} ({}) ",
+                column_meta_name,
+                command.column_name);
+        }
+        else if (!typeid_cast<const TMustHaveDataType *>(command.data_type.get()))
         {
             throw Exception(
                 ErrorCodes::ALTER_OF_COLUMN_IS_FORBIDDEN,
diff --git a/tests/queries/0_stateless/03093_special_column_errors.sql b/tests/queries/0_stateless/03093_special_column_errors.sql
index 1464927db7e..5daf72d222a 100644
--- a/tests/queries/0_stateless/03093_special_column_errors.sql
+++ b/tests/queries/0_stateless/03093_special_column_errors.sql
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ CREATE TABLE collapsing (key Int64, sign Int8) ENGINE = CollapsingMergeTree(sign
 ALTER TABLE collapsing MODIFY COLUMN sign String; -- { serverError ALTER_OF_COLUMN_IS_FORBIDDEN }
 ALTER TABLE collapsing DROP COLUMN sign; -- { serverError ALTER_OF_COLUMN_IS_FORBIDDEN }
 ALTER TABLE collapsing RENAME COLUMN sign TO sign2; -- { serverError ALTER_OF_COLUMN_IS_FORBIDDEN }
+ALTER TABLE collapsing MODIFY COLUMN sign MODIFY SETTING max_compress_block_size = 123456; -- { serverError ALTER_OF_COLUMN_IS_FORBIDDEN }
 
 CREATE TABLE versioned_collapsing_wrong (key Int64, version UInt8, sign Int8) ENGINE = VersionedCollapsingMergeTree(sign, sign) ORDER BY key; -- { serverError BAD_ARGUMENTS }