diff --git a/src/event/ngx_event_openssl.c b/src/event/ngx_event_openssl.c
index a7b389444..7a6f1b01d 100644
--- a/src/event/ngx_event_openssl.c
+++ b/src/event/ngx_event_openssl.c
@@ -554,6 +554,12 @@ ngx_ssl_certificate(ngx_conf_t *cf, ngx_ssl_t *ssl, ngx_str_t *cert,
         EVP_PKEY_free(pkey);
         return NGX_ERROR;
     }
+    if (SSL_CTX_check_private_key(ssl->ctx) == 0) {
+        ngx_ssl_error(NGX_LOG_EMERG, ssl->log, 0,
+                      "SSL_CTX_check_private_key(\"%s\") failed", key->data);
+        EVP_PKEY_free(pkey);
+        return NGX_ERROR;
+    }
 
     EVP_PKEY_free(pkey);