diff --git a/bin/pyenv-virtualenv b/bin/pyenv-virtualenv
index bedbb69..07b9323 100755
--- a/bin/pyenv-virtualenv
+++ b/bin/pyenv-virtualenv
@@ -273,6 +273,11 @@ if [ -z "${VERSION_NAME}" ] || [ -z "${VIRTUALENV_NAME}" ]; then
   usage 1
 fi
 
+if [[ "$VIRTUALENV_NAME" == "system" ]]; then
+  echo "pyenv-virtualenv: \`system' is not allowed as virtualenv name." 1>&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 if [ "$VIRTUALENV_NAME" != "${VIRTUALENV_NAME%[[:space:]]*}" ]; then
   echo "pyenv-virtualenv: no whitespace allowed in virtualenv name." 1>&2
   exit 1
diff --git a/test/virtualenv.bats b/test/virtualenv.bats
index 79468b6..1fc29f9 100644
--- a/test/virtualenv.bats
+++ b/test/virtualenv.bats
@@ -135,3 +135,12 @@ OUT
 pyenv-virtualenv: no whitespace allowed in virtualenv name.
 OUT
 }
+
+@test "system not allowed as virtualenv name" {
+  run pyenv-virtualenv "3.2.1" "system"
+
+  assert_failure
+  assert_output <<OUT
+pyenv-virtualenv: \`system' is not allowed as virtualenv name.
+OUT
+}