diff --git a/src/wallet/rpc/spend.cpp b/src/wallet/rpc/spend.cpp
index 69db2221da..6e4e875669 100644
--- a/src/wallet/rpc/spend.cpp
+++ b/src/wallet/rpc/spend.cpp
@@ -72,9 +72,13 @@ static void InterpretFeeEstimationInstructions(const UniValue& conf_target, cons
     } else {
         options.pushKV("fee_rate", fee_rate);
     }
-    if (!options["conf_target"].isNull() && (options["estimate_mode"].isNull() || (ToLower(options["estimate_mode"].get_str()) == "unset"))) {
+    auto estimate_mode_set = !options["estimate_mode"].isNull() && (ToLower(options["estimate_mode"].get_str()) != "unset");
+    if (!options["conf_target"].isNull() && !estimate_mode_set) {
         throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_PARAMETER, "Specify estimate_mode");
     }
+    if (options["conf_target"].isNull() && estimate_mode_set) {
+        throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_PARAMETER, "estimate_mode should be passed with conf_target");
+    }
 }
 
 static UniValue FinishTransaction(const std::shared_ptr<CWallet> pwallet, const UniValue& options, const CMutableTransaction& rawTx)
diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_send.py b/test/functional/wallet_send.py
index 0b4f10a67d..11db3ec0f1 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_send.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_send.py
@@ -304,12 +304,12 @@ class WalletSendTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.log.info("Testing case insensitive fee estimation mode parse")
         for mode in ["ecoNOMICAL", "economical", "ECONOMICAL"]:
             res = self.test_send(from_wallet=w0, to_wallet=w1, amount=1,
-                estimate_mode=mode, add_to_wallet=False
+                estimate_mode=mode, conf_target=1, add_to_wallet=False
             )
             assert_equal(res["complete"], True)
 
             res = self.test_send(from_wallet=w0, to_wallet=w1, amount=1,
-                arg_estimate_mode=mode, add_to_wallet=False
+                arg_estimate_mode=mode, arg_conf_target=1, add_to_wallet=False
             )
             assert_equal(res["complete"], True)
 
@@ -324,6 +324,16 @@ class WalletSendTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
                 estimate_mode=mode, conf_target=1, add_to_wallet=False,  expect_error = (-8, 'Specify estimate_mode')
             )
 
+        # Verify that 'estimate_mode' requires a confirmation target
+        for mode in ["ecoNOMICAL", "economical", "ECONOMICAL"]:
+            self.test_send(from_wallet=w0, to_wallet=w1, amount=1,
+                estimate_mode=mode, conf_target=None, add_to_wallet=False,  expect_error = (-8, 'estimate_mode should be passed with conf_target')
+            )
+
+            self.test_send(from_wallet=w0, to_wallet=w1, amount=1,
+                arg_estimate_mode=mode, arg_conf_target=None, add_to_wallet=False,  expect_error = (-8, 'estimate_mode should be passed with conf_target')
+            )
+
         if not self.options.descriptors:
             # Descriptor wallets do not allow mixed watch-only and non-watch-only things in the same wallet.
             # This is specifically testing that w4 ignores its own private keys and creates a psbt with send