diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml
index 8aae711b3b..0d93245e1a 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ COPY { <replaceable class="parameter">table_name</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable
       open and there are no older snapshots held by this transaction.  It is
       currently not possible to perform a <command>COPY FREEZE</command> on
       a partitioned table.
+      This option is allowed only in <command>COPY FROM</command>.
      </para>
      <para>
       Note that all other sessions will immediately be able to see the data
diff --git a/src/backend/commands/copy.c b/src/backend/commands/copy.c
index 3ac731803b..10111d7166 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/copy.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/copy.c
@@ -695,6 +695,12 @@ ProcessCopyOptions(ParseState *pstate,
 		ereport(ERROR,
 				(errcode(ERRCODE_FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED),
 				 errmsg("CSV quote character must not appear in the NULL specification")));
+
+	/* Check freeze */
+	if (opts_out->freeze && !is_from)
+		ereport(ERROR,
+				(errcode(ERRCODE_FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED),
+				 errmsg("COPY freeze only available using COPY FROM")));
 }
 
 /*