diff --git a/src/commands/env/create/compute.ts b/src/commands/env/create/compute.ts
index 9105ff3a..e185a526 100644
--- a/src/commands/env/create/compute.ts
+++ b/src/commands/env/create/compute.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,16 @@ export default class EnvCreateCompute extends Command {
     const org = await this.fetchOrg(flags['connected-org'])
     const orgId = org.getOrgId()
 
+    if (!await this.isFunctionsEnabled(org)) {
+      this.error(
+        `The org you are attempting to create a compute environment for does not have the ${herokuColor.green('Functions')} feature enabled.\n` +
+      '\n' +
+      'Before you can create a compute environment, please:\n' +
+      '1. Enable Functions in your DevHub org\n' +
+      `2. Add ${herokuColor.green('Functions')} to the "features" list in your scratch org definition JSON file, e.g. "features": ["Functions"]`,
+      )
+    }
+
     cli.action.start(`Creating compute environment for org ID ${orgId}`)
 
     const project = await this.fetchSfdxProject()
diff --git a/src/commands/generate/function.ts b/src/commands/generate/function.ts
index 03e42f87..b29ff303 100644
--- a/src/commands/generate/function.ts
+++ b/src/commands/generate/function.ts
@@ -329,8 +329,8 @@ export default class GenerateFunction extends Command {
       this.log('')
       this.log(
         'Before creating Scratch Orgs for development, please ensure that:\n' +
-        '1. Functions is enabled in your DevHub org\n' +
-        `2. ${herokuColor.green('"Functions"')} is added to your scratch org definition file ${herokuColor.green('"features"')} list`,
+        '1. Enable Functions in your DevHub org\n' +
+        `2. Add ${herokuColor.green('Functions')} to the "features" list in your scratch org definition JSON file, e.g. "features": ["Functions"]`,
       )
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/lib/base.ts b/src/lib/base.ts
index 829242aa..69f708d4 100644
--- a/src/lib/base.ts
+++ b/src/lib/base.ts
@@ -133,6 +133,25 @@ export default abstract class Command extends Base {
     return appName
   }
 
+  protected async isFunctionsEnabled(org: Org) {
+    const conn = org.getConnection()
+
+    // This is a roundabout away of checking if a given org has Functions enabled. If they do NOT have functions enabled,
+    // then querying for FunctionReferences will throw an error which complains about not having access to the
+    // FunctionReference object for the given org.
+    try {
+      await conn.metadata.list({type: 'FunctionReference'})
+      return true
+    } catch (error) {
+      if (error.name.includes('INVALID_TYPE') || error.message.includes('Cannot use: FunctionReference in this organization')) {
+        return false
+      }
+
+      // If we get here, something very unexpected has happened so just bail
+      throw error
+    }
+  }
+
   private fetchConfirmationValue(name: string, confirm?: string | string[]): string | undefined {
     // If multiple confirm values have been specified, we iterate over each one until finding something that could match
     // If there isn't a match, we'll simply return undefined
diff --git a/test/commands/env/create/compute.test.ts b/test/commands/env/create/compute.test.ts
index 85960496..b9725ce0 100644
--- a/test/commands/env/create/compute.test.ts
+++ b/test/commands/env/create/compute.test.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@ const APP_MOCK = {
 
 const USERNAME = 'fakeusername@salesforce.com'
 
+const CONN_MOCK = {
+  metadata: {
+    list: sinon.stub(),
+  },
+}
+
 const ORG_MOCK = {
   id: '1',
   getOrgId() {
@@ -17,6 +23,9 @@ const ORG_MOCK = {
   getUsername() {
     return USERNAME
   },
+  getConnection() {
+    return CONN_MOCK
+  },
 }
 
 const PROJECT_CONFIG_MOCK = {
@@ -145,4 +154,22 @@ describe('sf env create compute', () => {
     expect(ctx.stderr).to.contain('error!')
     expect(ctx.stdout).to.contain(`Compute Environment ID: ${APP_MOCK.name}`)
   })
+
+  test
+  .stdout()
+  .stderr()
+  .do(() => {
+    orgStub = sandbox.stub(Org, 'create' as any).returns(ORG_MOCK)
+    sandbox.stub(SfdxProject, 'resolve' as any).returns(PROJECT_MOCK)
+    CONN_MOCK.metadata.list = sinon.stub().throws('INVALID_TYPE')
+  })
+  .finally(() => {
+    sandbox.restore()
+    sinon.restore()
+  })
+  .command(['env:create:compute'])
+  .catch(error => {
+    expect(error.message).to.contain('The org you are attempting to create a compute environment for does not have the Functions feature enabled.')
+  })
+  .it('displays an informative error message if the org doesn\'t have functions enabled')
 })