diff --git a/c++/include/orc/Writer.hh b/c++/include/orc/Writer.hh
index d1f7b4d188..047ee9ffc5 100644
--- a/c++/include/orc/Writer.hh
+++ b/c++/include/orc/Writer.hh
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ namespace orc {
 
     /**
      * Set the data compression block size.
+     * Should less then 1 << 23 bytes (8M) which is limited by the
+     * 3 bytes size of compression block header (1 bit for isOriginal and 23 bits for length)
      */
     WriterOptions& setCompressionBlockSize(uint64_t size);
 
diff --git a/c++/src/Writer.cc b/c++/src/Writer.cc
index f485e78d99..b0d0b0c59a 100644
--- a/c++/src/Writer.cc
+++ b/c++/src/Writer.cc
@@ -338,6 +338,12 @@ namespace orc {
 
   const WriterId WriterImpl::writerId = WriterId::ORC_CPP_WRITER;
 
+  static void validateOptions(const WriterOptions& opts) {
+    if (opts.getCompressionBlockSize() >= (1 << 23)) {
+      throw std::invalid_argument("Compression block size cannot be greater or equal than 8M");
+    }
+  }
+
   WriterImpl::WriterImpl(const Type& t, OutputStream* stream, const WriterOptions& opts)
       : outStream(stream), options(opts), type(t) {
     streamsFactory = createStreamsFactory(options, outStream);
@@ -347,6 +353,8 @@ namespace orc {
     stripesAtLastFlush = 0;
     lastFlushOffset = 0;
 
+    validateOptions(opts);
+
     useTightNumericVector = opts.getUseTightNumericVector();
 
     // compression stream for stripe footer, file footer and metadata
diff --git a/c++/test/TestWriter.cc b/c++/test/TestWriter.cc
index dcc7f49a0f..28090cb130 100644
--- a/c++/test/TestWriter.cc
+++ b/c++/test/TestWriter.cc
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
 #include "orc/ColumnPrinter.hh"
 #include "orc/OrcFile.hh"
 
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@
 #include <cmath>
 #include <ctime>
 #include <sstream>
+#include <stdexcept>
 
 #ifdef __clang__
 DIAGNOSTIC_IGNORE("-Wmissing-variable-declarations")
@@ -2191,6 +2193,24 @@ namespace orc {
     }
   }
 
+  TEST_P(WriterTest, testValidateOptions) {
+    MemoryOutputStream memStream(DEFAULT_MEM_STREAM_SIZE);
+    MemoryPool* pool = getDefaultPool();
+    std::unique_ptr<Type> type(Type::buildTypeFromString("struct<col1:int>"));
+
+    uint64_t stripeSize = 16 * 1024;  // 16K
+    auto compressionKind = CompressionKind_NONE;
+
+    EXPECT_NO_THROW(createWriter(stripeSize, /* compressionBlockSize*/ (1 << 23) - 1,
+                                 compressionKind, *type, pool, &memStream, fileVersion));
+    EXPECT_THROW(createWriter(stripeSize, /* compressionBlockSize*/ (1 << 23), compressionKind,
+                              *type, pool, &memStream, fileVersion),
+                 std::invalid_argument);
+    EXPECT_THROW(createWriter(stripeSize, /* compressionBlockSize*/ (1 << 23) + 1, compressionKind,
+                              *type, pool, &memStream, fileVersion),
+                 std::invalid_argument);
+  }
+
   INSTANTIATE_TEST_SUITE_P(OrcTest, WriterTest,
                            Values(FileVersion::v_0_11(), FileVersion::v_0_12(),
                                   FileVersion::UNSTABLE_PRE_2_0()));