diff --git a/intl/msg_hash_us.h b/intl/msg_hash_us.h
index 7e0bcc26a9..4a0a9eb88c 100644
--- a/intl/msg_hash_us.h
+++ b/intl/msg_hash_us.h
@@ -12194,6 +12194,10 @@ MSG_HASH(
    MSG_NETPLAY_FAILED,
    "Failed to initialize netplay."
    )
+MSG_HASH(
+   MSG_NETPLAY_UNSUPPORTED,
+   "Core does not support netplay."
+   )
 MSG_HASH(
    MSG_NO_CONTENT_STARTING_DUMMY_CORE,
    "No content, starting dummy core."
diff --git a/msg_hash.h b/msg_hash.h
index c8fcb0911a..4140c66d18 100644
--- a/msg_hash.h
+++ b/msg_hash.h
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ enum msg_hash_enums
    MSG_NETPLAY_HOST_FULL,
    MSG_FAILED_TO_RECEIVE_HEADER_FROM_HOST,
    MSG_NETPLAY_FAILED,
+   MSG_NETPLAY_UNSUPPORTED,
    MSG_UNKNOWN_NETPLAY_COMMAND_RECEIVED,
    MSG_CONNECTING_TO_NETPLAY_HOST,
    MSG_NETPLAY_LAN_SCAN_COMPLETE,
diff --git a/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c b/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c
index 1dd0a3fb7c..c8743cbb0a 100644
--- a/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c
+++ b/network/netplay/netplay_frontend.c
@@ -8277,20 +8277,29 @@ bool init_netplay(const char *server, unsigned port, const char *mitm_session)
    if (!net_st->netplay_enabled)
       return false;
 
+#ifdef HAVE_NETPLAYDISCOVERY
+   net_st->lan_ad_server_fd = -1;
+#endif
+
+   serialization_quirks = core_serialization_quirks();
+
+   if (!core_info_current_supports_netplay() ||
+         serialization_quirks & ~((uint64_t) NETPLAY_QUIRK_MAP_UNDERSTOOD) ||
+         serialization_quirks & NETPLAY_QUIRK_MAP_NO_SAVESTATES ||
+         serialization_quirks & NETPLAY_QUIRK_MAP_NO_TRANSMISSION)
+   {
+      RARCH_ERR("[Netplay] %s\n", msg_hash_to_str(MSG_NETPLAY_UNSUPPORTED));
+      runloop_msg_queue_push(
+         msg_hash_to_str(MSG_NETPLAY_UNSUPPORTED), 0, 180, false, NULL,
+         MESSAGE_QUEUE_ICON_DEFAULT, MESSAGE_QUEUE_CATEGORY_INFO);
+      goto failure;
+   }
+
    core_set_default_callbacks(&cbs);
    if (!core_set_netplay_callbacks())
       goto failure;
 
    /* Map the core's quirks to our quirks */
-   serialization_quirks = core_serialization_quirks();
-
-   /* Quirks we don't support! Just disable everything. */
-   if (serialization_quirks & ~((uint64_t) NETPLAY_QUIRK_MAP_UNDERSTOOD))
-      quirks |= NETPLAY_QUIRK_NO_SAVESTATES;
-   if (serialization_quirks & NETPLAY_QUIRK_MAP_NO_SAVESTATES)
-      quirks |= NETPLAY_QUIRK_NO_SAVESTATES;
-   if (serialization_quirks & NETPLAY_QUIRK_MAP_NO_TRANSMISSION)
-      quirks |= NETPLAY_QUIRK_NO_TRANSMISSION;
    if (serialization_quirks & NETPLAY_QUIRK_MAP_INITIALIZATION)
       quirks |= NETPLAY_QUIRK_INITIALIZATION;
    if (serialization_quirks & NETPLAY_QUIRK_MAP_ENDIAN_DEPENDENT)
@@ -8343,10 +8352,6 @@ bool init_netplay(const char *server, unsigned port, const char *mitm_session)
 
    net_st->netplay_client_deferred = false;
 
-#ifdef HAVE_NETPLAYDISCOVERY
-   net_st->lan_ad_server_fd = -1;
-#endif
-
    net_st->chat             = (struct netplay_chat*)calloc(1, sizeof(*net_st->chat));
    if (!net_st->chat)
       goto failure;