diff --git a/dbms/src/Storages/AlterCommands.cpp b/dbms/src/Storages/AlterCommands.cpp
index 4948d884647..cebc4a4b2ba 100644
--- a/dbms/src/Storages/AlterCommands.cpp
+++ b/dbms/src/Storages/AlterCommands.cpp
@@ -628,6 +628,11 @@ void AlterCommands::validate(const StorageInMemoryMetadata & metadata, const Con
                                     ErrorCodes::NOT_FOUND_COLUMN_IN_BLOCK};
             }
         }
+        else if (command.type == AlterCommand::MODIFY_SETTING)
+        {
+            if (metadata.settings_ast == nullptr)
+                throw Exception{"Cannot alter settings, because table engine doesn't support settings changes", ErrorCodes::BAD_ARGUMENTS};
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/dbms/tests/queries/0_stateless/00980_merge_alter_settings.sql b/dbms/tests/queries/0_stateless/00980_merge_alter_settings.sql
index d650218e99a..6bf043fe4c8 100644
--- a/dbms/tests/queries/0_stateless/00980_merge_alter_settings.sql
+++ b/dbms/tests/queries/0_stateless/00980_merge_alter_settings.sql
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ CREATE TABLE log_for_alter (
   Data String
 ) ENGINE = Log();
 
-ALTER TABLE log_for_alter MODIFY SETTING aaa=123; -- { serverError 48 }
+ALTER TABLE log_for_alter MODIFY SETTING aaa=123; -- { serverError 36 }
 
 DROP TABLE IF EXISTS log_for_alter;
 
diff --git a/dbms/tests/queries/0_stateless/01089_alter_settings_old_format.reference b/dbms/tests/queries/0_stateless/01089_alter_settings_old_format.reference
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d00491fd7e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dbms/tests/queries/0_stateless/01089_alter_settings_old_format.reference
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1
diff --git a/dbms/tests/queries/0_stateless/01089_alter_settings_old_format.sql b/dbms/tests/queries/0_stateless/01089_alter_settings_old_format.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..15d3ac508cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dbms/tests/queries/0_stateless/01089_alter_settings_old_format.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS old_format_mt;
+
+CREATE TABLE old_format_mt (
+  event_date Date,
+  key UInt64,
+  value1 UInt64,
+  value2 String
+)
+ENGINE = MergeTree(event_date, (key, value1), 8192);
+
+ALTER TABLE old_format_mt MODIFY SETTING enable_mixed_granularity_parts = 1; --{serverError 36}
+
+SELECT 1;
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS old_format_mt;