diff --git a/src/fft/Fft.cpp b/src/fft/Fft.cpp
index 65db93e517bc42eb45b56e02207c5c0c15555951..154cfff51c24733349073e3f06f57ba7efbd6045 100644
--- a/src/fft/Fft.cpp
+++ b/src/fft/Fft.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ FourierTransform<Field_T>::FourierTransform( shared_ptr< StructuredBlockForest >
 : blocks_(blocks), fieldId_(fieldId), greens_()
 {
 #ifdef WALBERLA_USE_PFFT
+   WALBERLA_CHECK_UNEQUAL(MPIManager::instance()->comm(), MPI_COMM_WORLD, "PFFT does not support MPI_COMM_WORLD");
    pfft_init();
 #else
 #ifdef WALBERLA_BUILD_WITH_MPI