diff --git a/zio-kafka-test/src/test/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/ConsumerSettingsSpec.scala b/zio-kafka-test/src/test/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/ConsumerSettingsSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eb8ee74a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zio-kafka-test/src/test/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/ConsumerSettingsSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package zio.kafka.consumer
+
+import zio._
+import zio.kafka.ZIOSpecDefaultSlf4j
+import zio.test._
+import zio.test.Assertion._
+
+object ConsumerSettingsSpec extends ZIOSpecDefaultSlf4j {
+
+  override def spec: Spec[TestEnvironment with Scope, Throwable] =
+    suite("ConsumerSettingsSpec")(
+      test("accepts no auto.commit") {
+        ZIO.attempt(ConsumerSettings(List("host"))) *> assertCompletesZIO
+      },
+      test("accepts disabled auto.commit") {
+        ZIO.attempt(ConsumerSettings(List("host")).withProperty("enable.auto.commit", "false")) *> assertCompletesZIO
+      },
+      test("rejects auto.commit") {
+        val settings = ZIO.attempt(ConsumerSettings(List("host")).withProperty("enable.auto.commit", "true")).exit
+        assertZIO(settings)(failsWithA[IllegalArgumentException])
+      }
+    )
+
+}
diff --git a/zio-kafka/src/main/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/Consumer.scala b/zio-kafka/src/main/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/Consumer.scala
index c1b66da1d..776e403e8 100644
--- a/zio-kafka/src/main/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/Consumer.scala
+++ b/zio-kafka/src/main/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/Consumer.scala
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ object Consumer {
   /**
    * Create a zio-kafka Consumer from an org.apache.kafka KafkaConsumer
    *
-   * You are responsible for creating and closing the KafkaConsumer
+   * You are responsible for creating and closing the KafkaConsumer. Make sure auto.commit is disabled.
    */
   def fromJavaConsumer(
     javaConsumer: JConsumer[Array[Byte], Array[Byte]],
diff --git a/zio-kafka/src/main/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/ConsumerSettings.scala b/zio-kafka/src/main/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/ConsumerSettings.scala
index 934454132..7e5fc01b5 100644
--- a/zio-kafka/src/main/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/ConsumerSettings.scala
+++ b/zio-kafka/src/main/scala/zio/kafka/consumer/ConsumerSettings.scala
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ final case class ConsumerSettings(
   runloopMetricsSchedule: Schedule[Any, Unit, Long] = Schedule.fixed(500.millis),
   authErrorRetrySchedule: Schedule[Any, Throwable, Any] = Schedule.recurs(5) && Schedule.spaced(500.millis)
 ) {
+  // Parse booleans in a way compatible with how Kafka does this in org.apache.kafka.common.config.ConfigDef.parseType:
+  require(
+    properties.get(ConsumerConfig.ENABLE_AUTO_COMMIT_CONFIG).forall(_.toString.trim.equalsIgnoreCase("false")),
+    "Because zio-kafka does pre-fetching, auto commit is not supported"
+  )
 
   /**
    * Tunes the consumer for high throughput.