diff --git a/bin/pt-archiver b/bin/pt-archiver
index 548bcd39..89f234fc 100755
--- a/bin/pt-archiver
+++ b/bin/pt-archiver
@@ -3945,6 +3945,22 @@ sub main {
          $dp->get_cxn_params($table), { AutoCommit => $ac });
       PTDEBUG && _d('Inspecting table on', $dp->as_string($table));
 
+      if ( $o->get('bulk-insert') ) {
+         local $@;
+         my $sql = "LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE '/dev/null' INTO TABLE "
+                 . "`test`.`pt_not_there`";
+         eval { $dbh->do($sql); 1 } or do {
+            my $e = $@;
+            my $error_re = qr/\QDBD::mysql::db do failed: The used command is not allowed with this MySQL version [for Statement "LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE/;
+            if ($e =~ $error_re) {
+               $dbh->disconnect();
+               die("--bulk-insert cannot work as LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE "
+                 . "is disabled. See http://kb.percona.com/troubleshoot-load-data-infile"
+               );
+            }
+         };
+      }
+      
       # Set options that can enable removing data on the master and archiving it
       # on the slaves.
       if ( $table->{a} ) {
diff --git a/sandbox/start-sandbox b/sandbox/start-sandbox
index eea8f943..06a75248 100755
--- a/sandbox/start-sandbox
+++ b/sandbox/start-sandbox
@@ -51,6 +51,9 @@ make_sandbox() {
    if [ -n "$MULTIPLE_BUFFER_POOLS" ]; then
       echo "innodb_buffer_pool_instances=$MULTIPLE_BUFFER_POOLS" >> /tmp/$port/my.sandbox.cnf
    fi
+   if [ -n "$LOCAL_INFILE" ]; then
+      echo "local-infile=$LOCAL_INFILE" >> /tmp/$port/my.sandbox.cnf
+   fi
 
    # If the sandbox is a slave, set it read_only.
    if [ "$type" = "slave" ]; then
diff --git a/t/pt-archiver/bulk_insert.t b/t/pt-archiver/bulk_insert.t
index 6bd093e5..ad95e36d 100644
--- a/t/pt-archiver/bulk_insert.t
+++ b/t/pt-archiver/bulk_insert.t
@@ -22,8 +22,12 @@ my $dbh = $sb->get_dbh_for('master');
 if ( !$dbh ) {
    plan skip_all => 'Cannot connect to sandbox master';
 }
+elsif ( PerconaTest::load_data_is_disabled($dbh) ) {
+   diag("LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE is disabled, only going to test the error message");
+   plan tests => 2;
+}
 else {
-   plan tests => 10;
+   plan tests => 11;
 }
 
 my $output;
@@ -34,6 +38,10 @@ my $cmd = "$trunk/bin/pt-archiver";
 $sb->wipe_clean($dbh);
 $sb->create_dbs($dbh, ['test']);
 
+if ( PerconaTest::load_data_is_disabled($dbh) ) {
+   test_disabled_load_data($dbh, $sb);
+}
+else {
 # Test --bulk-insert
 $sb->load_file('master', 't/pt-archiver/samples/table5.sql');
 $dbh->do('INSERT INTO `test`.`table_5_copy` SELECT * FROM `test`.`table_5`');
@@ -84,6 +92,43 @@ is_deeply(
    "--bulk-insert archived 7 rows (issue 1260)"
 );
 
+# Test that the tool bails out early if LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE is disabled
+{
+   if ( -d "/tmp/2900" ) {
+      diag(`$trunk/sandbox/stop-sandbox 2900 >/dev/null 2>&1`);
+   }
+
+   local $ENV{LOCAL_INFILE} = 0;
+   diag(`$trunk/sandbox/start-sandbox master 2900 >/dev/null 2>&1`);
+
+   my $master3_dbh = $sb->get_dbh_for('master3');
+
+   test_disabled_load_data($master3_dbh, $sb);
+
+   diag(`$trunk/sandbox/stop-sandbox 2900 >/dev/null 2>&1`);
+   $master3_dbh->disconnect() if $master3_dbh;
+}
+
+}
+
+sub test_disabled_load_data {
+   my ($dbh, $sb) = @_;
+   $sb->load_file('master', 't/pt-archiver/samples/table5.sql');
+   $dbh->do('INSERT INTO `test`.`table_5_copy` SELECT * FROM `test`.`table_5`');
+
+   my ($output, undef) = full_output(
+      sub { pt_archiver::main(qw(--no-ascend --limit 50 --bulk-insert),
+         qw(--bulk-delete --where 1=1 --statistics),
+         '--source', "D=test,t=table_5,F=$cnf",
+         '--dest',   "t=table_5_dest") },
+   );
+
+   like($output,
+      qr!\Q--bulk-insert cannot work as LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE is disabled. See http://kb.percona.com/troubleshoot-load-data-infile!,
+      ""
+   );
+}
+
 # #############################################################################
 # Done.
 # #############################################################################
diff --git a/t/pt-archiver/bulk_regular_insert.t b/t/pt-archiver/bulk_regular_insert.t
index 70babac4..b8315e1e 100644
--- a/t/pt-archiver/bulk_regular_insert.t
+++ b/t/pt-archiver/bulk_regular_insert.t
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ my $dbh = $sb->get_dbh_for('master');
 if ( !$dbh ) {
    plan skip_all => 'Cannot connect to sandbox master';
 }
+elsif ( PerconaTest::load_data_is_disabled($dbh) ) {
+    plan skip_all => 'Cannot use --bulk-insert with LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE disabled';
+}
 else {
    plan tests => 5;
 }
diff --git a/t/pt-online-schema-change/alter_active_table.t b/t/pt-online-schema-change/alter_active_table.t
index 645dea23..e5e316be 100644
--- a/t/pt-online-schema-change/alter_active_table.t
+++ b/t/pt-online-schema-change/alter_active_table.t
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ diag('Loading sample dataset...');
 $sb->load_file('master', "$sample/basic_no_fks.sql");
 $master_dbh->do("USE pt_osc");
 $master_dbh->do("TRUNCATE TABLE t");
-$master_dbh->do("LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE '$trunk/t/pt-online-schema-change/samples/basic_no_fks.data' INTO TABLE t");
+$master_dbh->do("LOAD DATA INFILE '$trunk/t/pt-online-schema-change/samples/basic_no_fks.data' INTO TABLE t");
 $master_dbh->do("ANALYZE TABLE t");
 $sb->wait_for_slaves();
 
diff --git a/t/pt-table-checksum/basics.t b/t/pt-table-checksum/basics.t
index a8e7cd53..9fa2b17b 100644
--- a/t/pt-table-checksum/basics.t
+++ b/t/pt-table-checksum/basics.t
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ is(
 # Test --where.
 # #############################################################################
 $sb->load_file('master', 't/pt-table-checksum/samples/600cities.sql');
-$master_dbh->do("LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE '$trunk/t/pt-table-checksum/samples/600cities.data' INTO TABLE test.t");
+$master_dbh->do("LOAD DATA INFILE '$trunk/t/pt-table-checksum/samples/600cities.data' INTO TABLE test.t");
 
 $output = output(
    sub { $exit_status = pt_table_checksum::main(@args,
diff --git a/t/pt-table-checksum/chunk_size.t b/t/pt-table-checksum/chunk_size.t
index d8250067..98d243f0 100644
--- a/t/pt-table-checksum/chunk_size.t
+++ b/t/pt-table-checksum/chunk_size.t
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ unlike(
 # on replicas
 # #############################################################################
 $sb->load_file('master', 't/pt-table-checksum/samples/600cities.sql');
-$master_dbh->do("LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE '$trunk/t/pt-table-checksum/samples/600cities.data' INTO TABLE test.t");
+$master_dbh->do("LOAD DATA INFILE '$trunk/t/pt-table-checksum/samples/600cities.data' INTO TABLE test.t");
 $master_dbh->do("SET SQL_LOG_BIN=0");
 $master_dbh->do("DELETE FROM test.t WHERE id > 100");
 $master_dbh->do("SET SQL_LOG_BIN=1");
diff --git a/t/pt-table-checksum/resume.t b/t/pt-table-checksum/resume.t
index 07edcf09..02875469 100644
--- a/t/pt-table-checksum/resume.t
+++ b/t/pt-table-checksum/resume.t
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ my $output;
 sub load_data_infile {
    my ($file, $where) = @_;
    $master_dbh->do('truncate table percona.checksums');
-   $master_dbh->do("LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE '$trunk/t/pt-table-checksum/samples/checksum_results/$file' INTO TABLE percona.checksums");
+   $master_dbh->do("LOAD DATA INFILE '$trunk/t/pt-table-checksum/samples/checksum_results/$file' INTO TABLE percona.checksums");
    if ( $where ) {
       PerconaTest::wait_for_table($slave1_dbh, 'percona.checksums', $where);
    }