diff --git a/cmd/mattermost/commands/export.go b/cmd/mattermost/commands/export.go
index a837025615..076cc19142 100644
--- a/cmd/mattermost/commands/export.go
+++ b/cmd/mattermost/commands/export.go
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ func scheduleExportCmdF(command *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 func buildExportCmdF(format string) func(command *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	return func(command *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		a, err := InitDBCommandContextCobra(command)
+		license := a.License()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -158,7 +159,7 @@ func buildExportCmdF(format string) func(command *cobra.Command, args []string)
 			return errors.New("exportFrom must be a positive integer")
 		}
 
-		if a.MessageExport() == nil {
+		if a.MessageExport() == nil || license == nil || !*license.Features.MessageExport {
 			return errors.New("message export feature not available")
 		}
 
diff --git a/cmd/mattermost/commands/export_test.go b/cmd/mattermost/commands/export_test.go
index 4806a1f760..f4d5355b34 100644
--- a/cmd/mattermost/commands/export_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mattermost/commands/export_test.go
@@ -62,3 +62,13 @@ func TestMessageExportNegativeTimeoutSeconds(t *testing.T) {
 	// should fail fast because timeout seconds must be a positive int
 	require.Error(t, th.RunCommand(t, "--format", "actiance", "--exportFrom", "0", "--timeoutSeconds", "-1", "export", "schedule"))
 }
+
+func TestMessageExportFailsWithoutLicense(t *testing.T) {
+	th := Setup(t)
+	defer th.TearDown()
+
+	actual, _ := th.RunCommandWithOutput(t, "export", "csv", "export.csv", "--exportFrom", "0")
+
+	// should fail fast because timeout seconds must be a positive int
+	require.Contains(t, actual, "message export feature not available")
+}