diff --git a/lib/nconf/stores/file.js b/lib/nconf/stores/file.js
index 8d5bdd9e..f5d1e8ba 100644
--- a/lib/nconf/stores/file.js
+++ b/lib/nconf/stores/file.js
@@ -209,26 +209,19 @@ File.prototype.parse = function (contents) {
 
   if (this.secure) {
     var self = this;
-    var outdated = false;
     parsed = Object.keys(parsed).reduce(function (acc, key) {
       var value = parsed[key];
-      var decipher = crypto.createDecipher(value.alg, self.secure.secret);
-      if (value.iv) {
-        // For backward compatibility, use createDecipheriv only if there is iv stored in file
-        decipher = crypto.createDecipheriv(value.alg, self.secure.secret, Buffer.from(value.iv, 'hex'));
-      } else {
-        outdated = true;
+
+      if (!value.iv) {
+        throw new Error('Your encrypted file is outdated (encrypted without iv). Please re-encrypt your file using a pre-v1 release of nconf, v0.10 or above.');
       }
+      let decipher = crypto.createDecipheriv(value.alg, self.secure.secret, Buffer.from(value.iv, 'hex'));
+
       var plaintext = decipher.update(value.value, 'hex', 'utf8');
       plaintext += decipher.final('utf8');
       acc[key] = self.format.parse(plaintext);
       return acc;
     }, {});
-
-    if (outdated) {
-      // warn user if the file is encrypted without iv
-      console.warn('Your encrypted file is outdated (encrypted without iv). Please re-encrypt your file.');
-    }
   }
 
   return parsed;
diff --git a/test/stores/file-store.test.js b/test/stores/file-store.test.js
index 0fe859a6..cbac6b63 100644
--- a/test/stores/file-store.test.js
+++ b/test/stores/file-store.test.js
@@ -268,15 +268,21 @@ describe('nconf/stores/file', () => {
       secure: 'super-secretzzz'
     });
 
-    it("the load() method should decrypt legacy file properly", () => {
+    it("the load() method should throw an error when presented a legacy encrypted file", (done) => {
       secureStore.load(function (err, loaded) {
-        expect(err).toBe(null);
-        expect(loaded).toEqual(data);
+        try {
+          expect(err).not.toBe(null);
+          expect(loaded).toEqual(void 0);
+          done();
+        } catch (err) {
+          done(err);
+        }
       });
     });
-    it("the loadSync() method should decrypt legacy file properly", () => {
-      var loaded = secureStore.loadSync();
-      expect(loaded).toEqual(data);
+    it("the loadSync() method should throw an error when presented a legacy encrypted file", () => {
+      expect(() => {
+        secureStore.loadSync();
+      }).toThrow();
     });
   })