diff --git a/include/mbedtls/check_config.h b/include/mbedtls/check_config.h
index 605f11a44..badd14c2a 100644
--- a/include/mbedtls/check_config.h
+++ b/include/mbedtls/check_config.h
@@ -329,6 +329,17 @@
 #error "!MBEDTLS_SSL_KEEP_PEER_CERTIFICATE requires MBEDTLS_SHA512_C, MBEDTLS_SHA256_C or MBEDTLS_SHA1_C"
 #endif
 
+#if defined(MBEDTLS_MD_C) && !( \
+    defined(MBEDTLS_MD5_C) || \
+    defined(MBEDTLS_RIPEMD160_C) || \
+    defined(MBEDTLS_SHA1_C) || \
+    defined(MBEDTLS_SHA224_C) || \
+    defined(MBEDTLS_SHA256_C) || \
+    defined(MBEDTLS_SHA384_C) || \
+    defined(MBEDTLS_SHA512_C) )
+#error "MBEDTLS_MD_C defined, but not all prerequisites"
+#endif
+
 #if defined(MBEDTLS_MEMORY_BUFFER_ALLOC_C) &&                          \
     ( !defined(MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_C) || !defined(MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_MEMORY) )
 #error "MBEDTLS_MEMORY_BUFFER_ALLOC_C defined, but not all prerequisites"
diff --git a/include/mbedtls/mbedtls_config.h b/include/mbedtls/mbedtls_config.h
index 1c60ec8e4..31523dbae 100644
--- a/include/mbedtls/mbedtls_config.h
+++ b/include/mbedtls/mbedtls_config.h
@@ -2423,6 +2423,9 @@
  *
  * Enable the generic message digest layer.
  *
+ * Requires: one of: MBEDTLS_MD5_C, MBEDTLS_RIPEMD160_C, MBEDTLS_SHA1_C,
+ *                   MBEDTLS_SHA224_C, MBEDTLS_SHA256_C, MBEDTLS_SHA384_C,
+ *                   MBEDTLS_SHA512_C.
  * Module:  library/md.c
  * Caller:  library/constant_time.c
  *          library/ecdsa.c