diff --git a/.changeset/popular-files-glow.md b/.changeset/popular-files-glow.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..53955edd598
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/popular-files-glow.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@apollo/client": patch
+---
+
+Ensure an error is thrown when `@stream` is detected and an `incrementalDelivery` handler is not configured.
diff --git a/.size-limits.json b/.size-limits.json
index 7bfe2604146..e214463c49d 100644
--- a/.size-limits.json
+++ b/.size-limits.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
-  "import { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache, HttpLink } from \"@apollo/client\" (CJS)": 44753,
-  "import { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache, HttpLink } from \"@apollo/client\" (production) (CJS)": 39420,
-  "import { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache, HttpLink } from \"@apollo/client\"": 33901,
-  "import { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache, HttpLink } from \"@apollo/client\" (production)": 27727
+  "import { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache, HttpLink } from \"@apollo/client\" (CJS)": 44752,
+  "import { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache, HttpLink } from \"@apollo/client\" (production) (CJS)": 39500,
+  "import { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache, HttpLink } from \"@apollo/client\"": 33897,
+  "import { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache, HttpLink } from \"@apollo/client\" (production)": 27749
 }
diff --git a/src/__tests__/ApolloClient.ts b/src/__tests__/ApolloClient.ts
index b491ae75741..a0381c9daef 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/ApolloClient.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/ApolloClient.ts
@@ -3052,7 +3052,28 @@ describe("ApolloClient", () => {
 
     await expect(() => client.query({ query })).rejects.toThrow(
       new InvariantError(
-        "`@defer` is not supported without specifying an incremental handler. Please pass a handler as the `incrementalHandler` option to the `ApolloClient` constructor."
+        "`@defer` and `@stream` are not supported without specifying an incremental handler. Please pass a handler as the `incrementalHandler` option to the `ApolloClient` constructor."
+      )
+    );
+  });
+
+  test("will error when used with `@stream` in a without specifying an incremental strategy", async () => {
+    const client = new ApolloClient({
+      cache: new InMemoryCache(),
+      link: ApolloLink.empty(),
+    });
+
+    const query = gql`
+      query {
+        items @stream {
+          bar
+        }
+      }
+    `;
+
+    await expect(() => client.query({ query })).rejects.toThrow(
+      new InvariantError(
+        "`@defer` and `@stream` are not supported without specifying an incremental handler. Please pass a handler as the `incrementalHandler` option to the `ApolloClient` constructor."
       )
     );
   });
diff --git a/src/incremental/handlers/notImplemented.ts b/src/incremental/handlers/notImplemented.ts
index f4c02545c57..ce7f287ac00 100644
--- a/src/incremental/handlers/notImplemented.ts
+++ b/src/incremental/handlers/notImplemented.ts
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ export class NotImplementedHandler implements Incremental.Handler<never> {
   }
   prepareRequest(request: ApolloLink.Request) {
     invariant(
-      !hasDirectives(["defer"], request.query),
-      "`@defer` is not supported without specifying an incremental handler. Please pass a handler as the `incrementalHandler` option to the `ApolloClient` constructor."
+      !hasDirectives(["defer", "stream"], request.query),
+      "`@defer` and `@stream` are not supported without specifying an incremental handler. Please pass a handler as the `incrementalHandler` option to the `ApolloClient` constructor."
     );
 
     return request;