diff --git a/src/USER-REAXC/fix_qeq_reax.cpp b/src/USER-REAXC/fix_qeq_reax.cpp
index d41e8f1543cda4f6dd20f5f1d9bdbb5248784da4..e3993678cb053acc165aed47d5c3042d4d5e7678 100644
--- a/src/USER-REAXC/fix_qeq_reax.cpp
+++ b/src/USER-REAXC/fix_qeq_reax.cpp
@@ -318,6 +318,9 @@ void FixQEqReax::init()
 {
   if (!atom->q_flag) error->all(FLERR,"Fix qeq/reax requires atom attribute q");
 
+  if (!force->pair_match("reax/c",1))
+    error->all(FLERR,"Must use pair_style reax/c with fix qeq/reax");
+
   // need a half neighbor list w/ Newton off and ghost neighbors
   // built whenever re-neighboring occurs