diff --git a/python/paddle/fluid/dygraph/dygraph_to_static/program_translator.py b/python/paddle/fluid/dygraph/dygraph_to_static/program_translator.py
index 43ce1fae16fc2..77b55f35e2eb2 100644
--- a/python/paddle/fluid/dygraph/dygraph_to_static/program_translator.py
+++ b/python/paddle/fluid/dygraph/dygraph_to_static/program_translator.py
@@ -257,6 +257,10 @@ def __init__(self, function, input_spec=None, **kwargs):
             self._dygraph_function = getattr(function, '__func__')
             self._class_instance = getattr(function, '__self__')
 
+            if not hasattr(self._class_instance, '_original_funcs'):
+                raise TypeError(
+                    "When using 'to_static' to convert method of a class, "
+                    "please ensure the class inherits from nn.Layer")
             self._class_instance._original_funcs[
                 function.__name__] = self._dygraph_function
         else:
@@ -406,6 +410,10 @@ def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
 
     def _is_train_mode(self):
         if self._class_instance is not None:
+            if not hasattr(self._class_instance, 'training'):
+                raise TypeError(
+                    "When using 'to_static' to convert method of a class, "
+                    "please ensure the class inherits from nn.Layer")
             return self._class_instance.training
         else:
             return self._training
diff --git a/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/dygraph_to_static/test_declarative.py b/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/dygraph_to_static/test_declarative.py
index ef9eff2651853..46c847938c6ad 100644
--- a/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/dygraph_to_static/test_declarative.py
+++ b/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/dygraph_to_static/test_declarative.py
@@ -478,5 +478,21 @@ def test_set_buffers2(self):
         paddle.enable_static()
 
 
+class ClassNoInheritLayer:
+
+    def func(self, x):
+        return x + 1
+
+
+class TestClassNoInheritLayer(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def test_to_static(self):
+        paddle.disable_static()
+        net = ClassNoInheritLayer()
+        input_spec = [paddle.static.InputSpec(name='x', shape=[1])]
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            static_func = paddle.jit.to_static(net.func, input_spec=input_spec)
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()