diff --git src/core/sslserver.cpp src/core/sslserver.cpp
index de420bd8..e4fcbc32 100644
--- src/core/sslserver.cpp
+++ src/core/sslserver.cpp
@@ -52,6 +52,13 @@ SslServer::SslServer(QObject *parent)
 
     // Initialize the certificates for first-time usage
     if (!loadCerts()) {
+        // If the core is unable to load a certificate, and "--require-ssl" is specified,
+        // do not proceed, throw an exception and quit. This prevents the core from falling
+        // back to a plaintext-only core when they should be expecting SSL/TLS only.
+        if (Quassel::isOptionSet("require-ssl")) {
+            throw ExitException{EXIT_FAILURE, tr("--require-ssl is set, but no SSL certificate is available. Exiting.\n"
+                                                 "Please see https://quassel-irc.org/faq/cert to learn how to enable SSL support.")};
+        }
         if (!sslWarningShown) {
             quWarning()
             << "SslServer: Unable to set certificate file\n"