diff --git a/lib/datadog/appsec/component.rb b/lib/datadog/appsec/component.rb
index 2663f594b0..a4a1db9ab3 100644
--- a/lib/datadog/appsec/component.rb
+++ b/lib/datadog/appsec/component.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ module AppSec
     class Component
       class << self
         def build_appsec_component(settings, telemetry:)
-          return unless settings.respond_to?(:appsec) && settings.appsec.enabled
+          return if !settings.respond_to?(:appsec) || !settings.appsec.enabled
+          return if incompatible_ffi_version?
 
           processor = create_processor(settings, telemetry)
 
@@ -28,6 +29,20 @@ def build_appsec_component(settings, telemetry:)
 
         private
 
+        def incompatible_ffi_version?
+          ffi_version = Gem.loaded_specs['ffi'] && Gem.loaded_specs['ffi'].version
+          return false unless Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION) >= Gem::Version.new('3.3') &&
+            ffi_version < Gem::Version.new('1.16.0')
+
+          Datadog.logger.warn(
+            'AppSec is not supported in Ruby versions above 3.3.0 when using `ffi` versions older than 1.16.0, ' \
+            'and will be forcibly disabled due to a memory leak in `ffi`. ' \
+            'Please upgrade your `ffi` version to 1.16.0 or higher.'
+          )
+
+          true
+        end
+
         def create_processor(settings, telemetry)
           rules = AppSec::Processor::RuleLoader.load_rules(
             telemetry: telemetry,
diff --git a/spec/datadog/appsec/component_spec.rb b/spec/datadog/appsec/component_spec.rb
index 75e0c9fe1c..3581038d5d 100644
--- a/spec/datadog/appsec/component_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/datadog/appsec/component_spec.rb
@@ -19,6 +19,20 @@
         expect(component).to be_a(described_class)
       end
 
+      context 'when using old ffi version with Ruby 3.3.x' do
+        before do
+          stub_const('RUBY_VERSION', '3.3.0')
+          allow(Gem).to receive(:loaded_specs).and_return('ffi' => double(version: Gem::Version.new('1.15.4')))
+        end
+
+        it 'returns a Datadog::AppSec::Component instance with a nil processor' do
+          expect(Datadog.logger).to receive(:warn)
+
+          component = described_class.build_appsec_component(settings, telemetry: telemetry)
+          expect(component).to be_nil
+        end
+      end
+
       context 'when processor is ready' do
         it 'returns a Datadog::AppSec::Component with a processor instance' do
           expect_any_instance_of(Datadog::AppSec::Processor).to receive(:ready?).and_return(true)