diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/AsyncProfilerService.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/AsyncProfilerService.java
index f287857e1b8..86db64da0a3 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/AsyncProfilerService.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/AsyncProfilerService.java
@@ -368,6 +368,10 @@ public void purge()
     @Override
     public String status()
     {
+        if (!ASYNC_PROFILER_ENABLED.getBoolean())
+        {
+             return "Async Profiler is not enabled. Enable it by setting " + ASYNC_PROFILER_ENABLED.getKey() + " property to true.";
+        }
         return run(new ThrowingFunction<>()
         {
             @Override
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/AsyncProfilerServiceTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/AsyncProfilerServiceTest.java
index a05b3a6108c..25f7dbdced2 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/AsyncProfilerServiceTest.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/AsyncProfilerServiceTest.java
@@ -264,14 +264,13 @@ public void testSecondStartNotExecuted()
     }
 
     @Test
-    public void testProfilerDisabledThrowsException()
+    public void testProfilerDisabledReturnsMessage()
     {
         try (WithProperties properties = new WithProperties().set(ASYNC_PROFILER_UNSAFE_MODE, true).set(ASYNC_PROFILER_ENABLED, false))
         {
-            assertThatThrownBy(() -> {
-                AsyncProfilerService profiler = getProfiler(true);
-                profiler.status();
-            }).hasMessageContaining("Async Profiler is not enabled. Enable it by setting cassandra.async_profiler.enabled property to true.");
+            AsyncProfilerService profiler = getProfiler(true);
+            String status = profiler.status();
+            assertTrue(status.contains("Async Profiler is not enabled. Enable it by setting cassandra.async_profiler.enabled property to true."));
         }
     }