diff --git a/mlir/lib/Pass/Pass.cpp b/mlir/lib/Pass/Pass.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Pass/Pass.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Pass/Pass.cpp
@@ -438,6 +438,9 @@
   if (!opInfo->hasTrait<OpTrait::IsIsolatedFromAbove>())
     return op->emitOpError() << "trying to schedule a pass on an operation not "
                                 "marked as 'IsolatedFromAbove'";
+  if (!pass->canScheduleOn(*op->getName().getRegisteredInfo()))
+    return op->emitOpError()
+           << "trying to schedule a pass on an unsupported operation";
 
   // Initialize the pass state with a callback for the pass to dynamically
   // execute a pipeline on the currently visited operation.
diff --git a/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/test-pass-application.mlir b/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/test-pass-application.mlir
--- a/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/test-pass-application.mlir
+++ b/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/test-pass-application.mlir
@@ -70,3 +70,22 @@
   %1 = transform.structured.match ops{["func.func"]} in %arg1 : (!transform.any_op) -> !transform.any_op
   transform.apply_registered_pass "canonicalize" to %1 {options = "top-down=false"} : (!transform.any_op) -> !transform.any_op
 }
+
+// -----
+
+module {
+  // expected-error @below {{trying to schedule a pass on an unsupported operation}}
+  // expected-note @below {{target op}}
+  func.func @invalid_target_op_type() {
+    return
+  }
+
+  transform.sequence failures(propagate) {
+  ^bb1(%arg1: !transform.any_op):
+    %1 = transform.structured.match ops{["func.func"]} in %arg1 : (!transform.any_op) -> !transform.any_op
+
+    // func-bufferize can be applied only to ModuleOps.
+    // expected-error @below {{pass pipeline failed}}
+    transform.apply_registered_pass "func-bufferize" to %1 : (!transform.any_op) -> !transform.any_op
+  }
+}