diff --git a/pkg/kv/dist_sender.go b/pkg/kv/dist_sender.go
index eb731d9c506f..d0a7ebfdcf00 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/dist_sender.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/dist_sender.go
@@ -743,6 +743,11 @@ func (ds *DistSender) divideAndSendBatchToRanges(
 		return resp.reply, resp.pErr
 	}
 
+	if ba.IsUnsplittable() {
+		mismatch := roachpb.NewRangeKeyMismatchError(rs.Key.AsRawKey(), rs.EndKey.AsRawKey(), ri.Desc())
+		return nil, roachpb.NewError(mismatch)
+	}
+
 	// Make an empty slice of responses which will be populated with responses
 	// as they come in via Combine().
 	br = &roachpb.BatchResponse{
diff --git a/pkg/roachpb/api.go b/pkg/roachpb/api.go
index 7c52d4b6293b..a211885484ee 100644
--- a/pkg/roachpb/api.go
+++ b/pkg/roachpb/api.go
@@ -103,14 +103,15 @@ func (rc ReadConsistencyType) SupportsBatch(ba BatchRequest) error {
 }
 
 const (
-	isAdmin    = 1 << iota // admin cmds don't go through raft, but run on lease holder
-	isRead                 // read-only cmds don't go through raft, but may run on lease holder
-	isWrite                // write cmds go through raft and must be proposed on lease holder
-	isTxn                  // txn commands may be part of a transaction
-	isTxnWrite             // txn write cmds start heartbeat and are marked for intent resolution
-	isRange                // range commands may span multiple keys
-	isReverse              // reverse commands traverse ranges in descending direction
-	isAlone                // requests which must be alone in a batch
+	isAdmin        = 1 << iota // admin cmds don't go through raft, but run on lease holder
+	isRead                     // read-only cmds don't go through raft, but may run on lease holder
+	isWrite                    // write cmds go through raft and must be proposed on lease holder
+	isTxn                      // txn commands may be part of a transaction
+	isTxnWrite                 // txn write cmds start heartbeat and are marked for intent resolution
+	isRange                    // range commands may span multiple keys
+	isReverse                  // reverse commands traverse ranges in descending direction
+	isAlone                    // requests which must be alone in a batch
+	isUnsplittable             // range command that must not be split during sending
 	// Requests for acquiring a lease skip the (proposal-time) check that the
 	// proposing replica has a valid lease.
 	skipLeaseCheck
@@ -1068,7 +1069,7 @@ func (*WriteBatchRequest) flags() int               { return isWrite | isRange }
 func (*ExportRequest) flags() int                   { return isRead | isRange | updatesReadTSCache }
 func (*ImportRequest) flags() int                   { return isAdmin | isAlone }
 func (*AdminScatterRequest) flags() int             { return isAdmin | isAlone | isRange }
-func (*AddSSTableRequest) flags() int               { return isWrite | isAlone | isRange }
+func (*AddSSTableRequest) flags() int               { return isWrite | isAlone | isRange | isUnsplittable }
 
 // RefreshRequest and RefreshRangeRequest both list
 // updates(Read)TSCache, though they actually update the read or write
diff --git a/pkg/roachpb/batch.go b/pkg/roachpb/batch.go
index a5021dd660ae..d479ebfa18af 100644
--- a/pkg/roachpb/batch.go
+++ b/pkg/roachpb/batch.go
@@ -117,6 +117,11 @@ func (ba *BatchRequest) IsTransactionWrite() bool {
 	return ba.hasFlag(isTxnWrite)
 }
 
+// IsUnsplittable returns true iff the BatchRequest an un-splittable request.
+func (ba *BatchRequest) IsUnsplittable() bool {
+	return ba.hasFlag(isUnsplittable)
+}
+
 // IsSingleRequest returns true iff the BatchRequest contains a single request.
 func (ba *BatchRequest) IsSingleRequest() bool {
 	return len(ba.Requests) == 1