diff --git a/src/ejabberd_c2s.erl b/src/ejabberd_c2s.erl
index e87128949..2566dec1b 100644
--- a/src/ejabberd_c2s.erl
+++ b/src/ejabberd_c2s.erl
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ init([{SockMod, Socket}, Opts, FSMLimitOpts]) ->
 	false ->
 	    Socket1 =
 		if
-		    TLSEnabled ->
+		    TLSEnabled andalso SockMod /= ejabberd_frontend_socket ->
 			SockMod:starttls(Socket, TLSOpts);
 		    true ->
 			Socket