diff --git a/cpp/src/io/comp/nvcomp_adapter.cpp b/cpp/src/io/comp/nvcomp_adapter.cpp
index 5804ef3cc9b..b7b003e0af9 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/comp/nvcomp_adapter.cpp
+++ b/cpp/src/io/comp/nvcomp_adapter.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include "nvcomp_adapter.cuh"
 
 #include <cudf/utilities/error.hpp>
+#include <io/utilities/config_utils.hpp>
 
 #include <nvcomp/snappy.h>
 
@@ -76,6 +77,17 @@ void batched_decompress(compression_type compression,
                         size_t max_uncomp_chunk_size,
                         rmm::cuda_stream_view stream)
 {
+  // TODO Consolidate config use to a common location
+  if (compression == compression_type::ZSTD) {
+#if NVCOMP_HAS_ZSTD
+    CUDF_EXPECTS(cudf::io::detail::nvcomp_integration::is_all_enabled(),
+                 "Zstandard compression is experimental, you can enable it through "
+                 "`LIBCUDF_NVCOMP_POLICY` environment variable.");
+#else
+    CUDF_FAIL("nvCOMP 2.3 or newer is required for Zstandard compression");
+#endif
+  }
+
   auto const num_chunks = inputs.size();
 
   // cuDF inflate inputs converted to nvcomp inputs
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_orc.py b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_orc.py
index 8de680fd706..c5b6395394b 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_orc.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_orc.py
@@ -1727,8 +1727,5 @@ def test_orc_reader_zstd_compression(list_struct_buff):
     try:
         got = cudf.read_orc(buffer)
         assert_eq(expected, got)
-    except RuntimeError as e:
-        if "Unsupported compression type" in str(e):
-            pytest.mark.xfail(reason="nvcomp build doesn't have zstd")
-        else:
-            raise e
+    except RuntimeError:
+        pytest.mark.xfail(reason="zstd support is not enabled")
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_parquet.py b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_parquet.py
index 58fa69c59d0..32619e37a3c 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_parquet.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_parquet.py
@@ -2515,8 +2515,5 @@ def test_parquet_reader_zstd_compression(datadir):
         df = cudf.read_parquet(fname)
         pdf = pd.read_parquet(fname)
         assert_eq(df, pdf)
-    except RuntimeError as e:
-        if "Unsupported compression type" in str(e):
-            pytest.mark.xfail(reason="nvcomp build doesn't have zstd")
-        else:
-            raise e
+    except RuntimeError:
+        pytest.mark.xfail(reason="zstd support is not enabled")