diff --git a/cmd/setup/setup.go b/cmd/setup/setup.go
index b693df3022..9d57928d06 100644
--- a/cmd/setup/setup.go
+++ b/cmd/setup/setup.go
@@ -467,10 +467,14 @@ func startCommandsQueries(
 		config.DefaultInstance.SecretGenerators,
 	)
 	logging.OnError(err).Fatal("unable to start commands")
+
+	if !config.Notifications.LegacyEnabled && dbClient.Type() == "cockroach" {
+		logging.Fatal("notifications must be set to LegacyEnabled=true when using CockroachDB")
+	}
 	q, err := queue.NewQueue(&queue.Config{
 		Client: dbClient,
 	})
-	logging.OnError(err).Fatal("unable to start queue")
+	logging.OnError(err).Fatal("unable to init queue")
 
 	notify_handler.Register(
 		ctx,
diff --git a/cmd/start/start.go b/cmd/start/start.go
index b12dde2182..76ffdb8921 100644
--- a/cmd/start/start.go
+++ b/cmd/start/start.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"crypto/tls"
 	_ "embed"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
 	"net/http"
@@ -268,6 +269,9 @@ func startZitadel(ctx context.Context, config *Config, masterKey string, server
 	actionsLogstoreSvc := logstore.New(queries, actionsExecutionDBEmitter, actionsExecutionStdoutEmitter)
 	actions.SetLogstoreService(actionsLogstoreSvc)
 
+	if !config.Notifications.LegacyEnabled && dbClient.Type() == "cockroach" {
+		return errors.New("notifications must be set to LegacyEnabled=true when using CockroachDB")
+	}
 	q, err := queue.NewQueue(&queue.Config{
 		Client: dbClient,
 	})
diff --git a/internal/queue/queue.go b/internal/queue/queue.go
index d680221753..b45a7eb8cb 100644
--- a/internal/queue/queue.go
+++ b/internal/queue/queue.go
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ type Config struct {
 }
 
 func NewQueue(config *Config) (_ *Queue, err error) {
+	if config.Client.Type() == "cockroach" {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
 	return &Queue{
 		driver: riverpgxv5.New(config.Client.Pool),
 		config: &river.Config{