diff --git a/lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexWriter.java b/lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexWriter.java
index 0c51450d2ff4..8c09cf98b9ef 100644
--- a/lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexWriter.java
+++ b/lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexWriter.java
@@ -1121,6 +1121,12 @@ public IndexWriter(Directory d, IndexWriterConfig conf) throws IOException {
       // NOTE: this is correct even for an NRT reader because we'll pull FieldInfos even for the
       // un-committed segments:
       globalFieldNumberMap = getFieldNumberMap();
+      if (create == false
+          && conf.getParentField() != null
+          && globalFieldNumberMap.getFieldNames().contains(conf.getParentField()) == false) {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+            "can't add a parent field to an already existing index without a parent field");
+      }
 
       validateIndexSort();
 
@@ -1270,7 +1276,6 @@ private FieldNumbers getFieldNumberMap() throws IOException {
         map.addOrGet(fi);
       }
     }
-
     return map;
   }
 
diff --git a/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestIndexWriter.java b/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestIndexWriter.java
index 7da560fdb402..cb00faeb8561 100644
--- a/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestIndexWriter.java
+++ b/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestIndexWriter.java
@@ -4843,6 +4843,48 @@ public void testParentAndSoftDeletesAreTheSame() throws IOException {
     }
   }
 
+  public void testParentFieldExistingIndex() throws IOException {
+    try (Directory dir = newDirectory()) {
+      IndexWriterConfig iwc = new IndexWriterConfig(new MockAnalyzer(random()));
+      try (IndexWriter writer = new IndexWriter(dir, iwc)) {
+        writer.addDocument(new Document());
+      }
+      IllegalArgumentException iae =
+          expectThrows(
+              IllegalArgumentException.class,
+              () ->
+                  new IndexWriter(
+                      dir,
+                      new IndexWriterConfig(new MockAnalyzer(random()))
+                          .setOpenMode(OpenMode.APPEND)
+                          .setParentField("foo")));
+      assertEquals(
+          "can't add a parent field to an already existing index without a parent field",
+          iae.getMessage());
+      iae =
+          expectThrows(
+              IllegalArgumentException.class,
+              () ->
+                  new IndexWriter(
+                      dir,
+                      new IndexWriterConfig(new MockAnalyzer(random()))
+                          .setOpenMode(OpenMode.CREATE_OR_APPEND)
+                          .setParentField("foo")));
+      assertEquals(
+          "can't add a parent field to an already existing index without a parent field",
+          iae.getMessage());
+
+      try (IndexWriter writer =
+          new IndexWriter(
+              dir,
+              new IndexWriterConfig(new MockAnalyzer(random()))
+                  .setOpenMode(OpenMode.CREATE)
+                  .setParentField("foo"))) {
+        writer.addDocument(new Document());
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   public void testIndexWithParentFieldIsCongruent() throws IOException {
     try (Directory dir = newDirectory()) {
       IndexWriterConfig iwc = new IndexWriterConfig(new MockAnalyzer(random()));