diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index a92d2aad..db9247ef 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -565,6 +565,9 @@ bool AppInit2(boost::thread_group& threadGroup)
     // Check for -debugnet (deprecated)
     if (GetBoolArg("-debugnet", false))
         InitWarning(_("Warning: Deprecated argument -debugnet ignored, use -debug=net"));
+    // Check for -socks - as this is a privacy risk to continue, exit here
+    if (mapArgs.count("-socks"))
+        return InitError(_("Error: Unsupported argument -socks found. Setting SOCKS version isn't possible anymore, only SOCKS5 proxies are supported."));
     // Check for -tor - as this is a privacy risk to continue, exit here
     if (GetBoolArg("-tor", false))
         return InitError(_("Error: Unsupported argument -tor found, use -onion."));