diff --git a/cmake/onnxruntime_unittests.cmake b/cmake/onnxruntime_unittests.cmake
index 3108c249dd..c11ab46ad9 100644
--- a/cmake/onnxruntime_unittests.cmake
+++ b/cmake/onnxruntime_unittests.cmake
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ function(AddTest)
       endif()
     endif()
     target_compile_options(${_UT_TARGET} PRIVATE ${disabled_warnings})
-  else()    
-    target_compile_options(${_UT_TARGET} PRIVATE ${DISABLED_WARNINGS_FOR_TVM})    
+  else()
+    target_compile_options(${_UT_TARGET} PRIVATE ${DISABLED_WARNINGS_FOR_TVM})
   endif()
 
   set(TEST_ARGS)
@@ -304,6 +304,15 @@ else()
   set(test_data_target onnxruntime_test_ir)
 endif()  # SingleUnitTestProject
 
+# standalone test for inference session without environment
+# the normal test executables set up a default runtime environment, which we don't want here
+AddTest(
+  TARGET onnxruntime_test_framework_session_without_environment_standalone
+  SOURCES "${TEST_SRC_DIR}/framework/inference_session_without_environment/inference_session_without_environment_standalone_test.cc"
+  LIBS ${onnxruntime_test_framework_libs}
+  DEPENDS ${onnxruntime_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCIES}
+)
+
 #
 # onnxruntime_ir_graph test data
 #
diff --git a/include/onnxruntime/core/framework/environment.h b/include/onnxruntime/core/framework/environment.h
index e0830d884e..f9ef84d0de 100644
--- a/include/onnxruntime/core/framework/environment.h
+++ b/include/onnxruntime/core/framework/environment.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include <atomic>
 #include <memory>
 #include "core/common/common.h"
 #include "core/common/status.h"
@@ -20,14 +21,21 @@ class Environment {
   static Status Create(std::unique_ptr<Environment>& environment);
 
   /**
-  * This function will call ::google::protobuf::ShutdownProtobufLibrary
+     This function will call ::google::protobuf::ShutdownProtobufLibrary
   */
   ~Environment();
 
+  /**
+     Returns whether any runtime environment instance has been initialized.
+  */
+  static bool IsInitialized() { return is_initialized_; }
+
  private:
   ONNXRUNTIME_DISALLOW_COPY_ASSIGNMENT_AND_MOVE(Environment);
 
   Environment() = default;
   Status Initialize();
+
+  static std::atomic<bool> is_initialized_;
 };
 }  // namespace onnxruntime
diff --git a/onnxruntime/core/framework/environment.cc b/onnxruntime/core/framework/environment.cc
index 58c51b2f06..a8dd885aee 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/core/framework/environment.cc
+++ b/onnxruntime/core/framework/environment.cc
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ using namespace ONNX_NAMESPACE;
 
 std::once_flag schemaRegistrationOnceFlag;
 
+std::atomic<bool> Environment::is_initialized_{false};
+
 Status Environment::Create(std::unique_ptr<Environment>& environment) {
   environment = std::unique_ptr<Environment>(new Environment());
   auto status = environment->Initialize();
@@ -88,6 +90,8 @@ Internal copy node
     // Register contributed schemas.
     // The corresponding kernels are registered inside the appropriate execution provider.
     contrib::RegisterContribSchemas();
+
+    is_initialized_ = true;
   } catch (std::exception& ex) {
     status = Status{ONNXRUNTIME, common::RUNTIME_EXCEPTION, std::string{"Exception caught: "} + ex.what()};
   } catch (...) {
diff --git a/onnxruntime/core/session/inference_session.cc b/onnxruntime/core/session/inference_session.cc
index 04056b568e..31919bce3f 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/core/session/inference_session.cc
+++ b/onnxruntime/core/session/inference_session.cc
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include "core/graph/model.h"
 #include "core/framework/allocatormgr.h"
 #include "core/framework/customregistry.h"
+#include "core/framework/environment.h"
 #include "core/framework/execution_frame.h"
 #include "core/framework/graph_partitioner.h"
 #include "core/framework/insert_cast_transformer.h"
@@ -50,6 +51,9 @@ class InferenceSession::Impl {
         logging_manager_{logging_manager},
         session_state_{execution_providers_},
         insert_cast_transformer_{"CastFloat16Transformer"} {
+    ONNXRUNTIME_ENFORCE(Environment::IsInitialized(),
+                        "Environment must be initialized before creating an InferenceSession.");
+
     InitLogger(logging_manager);
 
     // currently the threadpool is used by the parallel executor only and hence
diff --git a/onnxruntime/test/framework/inference_session_without_environment/inference_session_without_environment_standalone_test.cc b/onnxruntime/test/framework/inference_session_without_environment/inference_session_without_environment_standalone_test.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..175fa9870e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/onnxruntime/test/framework/inference_session_without_environment/inference_session_without_environment_standalone_test.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+#include "google/protobuf/stubs/common.h"
+
+#include "core/framework/environment.h"
+#include "core/session/inference_session.h"
+
+namespace onnxruntime {
+namespace test {
+TEST(InferenceSessionWithoutEnvironment, UninitializedEnvironment)
+{
+  EXPECT_FALSE(onnxruntime::Environment::IsInitialized());
+
+  onnxruntime::SessionOptions session_options{};
+  EXPECT_THROW(onnxruntime::InferenceSession{session_options},
+               onnxruntime::OnnxRuntimeException);
+}
+
+// call protobuf shutdown to avoid memory leak
+class TestEnvironment : public ::testing::Environment {
+ public:
+  void TearDown() override {
+    ::google::protobuf::ShutdownProtobufLibrary();
+  }
+};
+}  // namespace test
+}  // namespace onnxruntime
+
+GTEST_API_ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
+  ::testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);
+  // the following call takes ownership of the test environment
+  ::testing::AddGlobalTestEnvironment(new onnxruntime::test::TestEnvironment{});
+  int status = RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+  return status;
+}