diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index aebb5ab..fa0d340 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "bevy_sync"
-version = "0.14.1"
+version = "0.14.2"
 edition = "2021"
 authors = ["Raffaele Ragni <raffaele.ragni@gmail.com>"]
 license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/src/lib_priv.rs b/src/lib_priv.rs
index 705a2d6..a95538c 100644
--- a/src/lib_priv.rs
+++ b/src/lib_priv.rs
@@ -247,6 +247,12 @@ impl SyncComponent for App {
     >(
         &mut self,
     ) -> &mut Self {
+        // application may try to setup sync without knowing if bevy_sync was enabled.
+        if self.world().get_resource::<SyncTrackerRes>().is_none() {
+            warn!("Trying to register sync_component in bevy_sync, but bevy_sync is not enabled.");
+            return self;
+        }
+
         self.register_type::<T>();
         self.register_type_data::<T, ReflectFromReflect>();
         let c_id = self.world_mut().init_component::<T>();