diff --git a/tree/ntuple/src/RFieldMeta.cxx b/tree/ntuple/src/RFieldMeta.cxx
index dd1d70955a31d..75cbb1b1cdf06 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/src/RFieldMeta.cxx
+++ b/tree/ntuple/src/RFieldMeta.cxx
@@ -911,7 +911,9 @@ ROOT::Experimental::RSoAField::RSoAField(std::string_view fieldName, TClass *clS
    } catch (ROOT::RException &e) {
       throw RException(R__FAIL("invalid record type of SoA field " + GetTypeName() + " [" + e.what() + "]"));
    }
-   R__ASSERT(fClass->GetClassVersion() >= 0);
+   if (fClass->GetClassVersion() <= 0) {
+      throw RException(R__FAIL(std::string("SoA class ") + GetTypeName() + " is transient or unversioned."));
+   }
    if (static_cast<std::uint32_t>(fClass->GetClassVersion()) != fSubfields[0]->GetTypeVersion()) {
       throw RException(R__FAIL(std::string("version mismatch between SoA type and underlying record type: ") +
                                std::to_string(fClass->GetClassVersion()) + " vs. " +
diff --git a/tree/ntuple/test/SoAField.hxx b/tree/ntuple/test/SoAField.hxx
index 89704b2765da0..2135b724507bf 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/test/SoAField.hxx
+++ b/tree/ntuple/test/SoAField.hxx
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ struct SoAVersionMismatch {
    ClassDefNV(SoAVersionMismatch, 4);
 };
 
+struct RecordUnversioned {};
+
+struct SoAUnversioned {};
+
 struct RecordSimple {
    float fX;
    float fY;
diff --git a/tree/ntuple/test/SoAFieldLinkDef.h b/tree/ntuple/test/SoAFieldLinkDef.h
index 44e0ffe512c63..69beee8e05a78 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/test/SoAFieldLinkDef.h
+++ b/tree/ntuple/test/SoAFieldLinkDef.h
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 #pragma link C++ options=rntupleSoARecord(xyz) class SoAUnknownRecord+;
 #pragma link C++ options=rntupleSoARecord(Record) class SoAVersionMismatch+;
 
+#pragma link C++ class RecordUnversioned+;
+#pragma link C++ options=rntupleSoARecord(RecordUnversioned) class SoAUnversioned+;
+
 #pragma link C++ class RecordSimple+;
 #pragma link C++ options=rntupleSoARecord(RecordSimple) class SoASimple+;
 #pragma link C++ options=rntupleSoARecord(RecordSimple) class SoASimpleSwapped+;
diff --git a/tree/ntuple/test/ntuple_soa.cxx b/tree/ntuple/test/ntuple_soa.cxx
index 6bf4f198199f8..f5cce61171bcc 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/test/ntuple_soa.cxx
+++ b/tree/ntuple/test/ntuple_soa.cxx
@@ -70,6 +70,13 @@ TEST(RNTuple, SoACheck)
       EXPECT_THAT(e.what(), ::testing::HasSubstr("version mismatch between SoA type and underlying record type"));
    }
 
+   try {
+      auto f = std::make_unique<RSoAField>("f", "SoAUnversioned");
+      FAIL() << "creating unversioned SoA field should fail";
+   } catch (const ROOT::RException &e) {
+      EXPECT_THAT(e.what(), ::testing::HasSubstr("is transient or unversioned"));
+   }
+
    try {
       auto f = std::make_unique<RSoAField>("f", "SoASimpleBadArray");
       FAIL() << "creating SoA field with arrays should fail";