diff --git a/lib/elixir/lib/kernel.ex b/lib/elixir/lib/kernel.ex
index e8f58373b4..fb8c441d4c 100644
--- a/lib/elixir/lib/kernel.ex
+++ b/lib/elixir/lib/kernel.ex
@@ -5589,6 +5589,9 @@ defmodule Kernel do
         defstruct name: nil, age: 10 + 11
       end
 
+  `@enforce_keys` must be set to an atom or a list of unique atoms,
+  all of which must name fields defined by `defstruct/1`
+
   Now trying to build a struct without the name key will fail:
 
       %User{age: 21}
diff --git a/lib/elixir/lib/kernel/utils.ex b/lib/elixir/lib/kernel/utils.ex
index 139541c581..af665161e1 100644
--- a/lib/elixir/lib/kernel/utils.ex
+++ b/lib/elixir/lib/kernel/utils.ex
@@ -162,16 +162,8 @@ defmodule Kernel.Utils do
     # TODO: Make it raise on v2.0
     warn_on_duplicate_struct_key(:lists.keysort(1, fields), env)
 
-    foreach = fn
-      key when is_atom(key) ->
-        :ok
-
-      key ->
-        raise ArgumentError, "keys given to @enforce_keys must be atoms, got: #{inspect(key)}"
-    end
-
-    :lists.foreach(foreach, enforce_keys)
-    struct = :maps.from_list([__struct__: module] ++ fields)
+    field_map = :maps.from_list(fields)
+    struct = :maps.put(:__struct__, module, field_map)
     escaped_struct = :elixir_quote.escape(struct, {:struct, module}, false)
 
     body =
@@ -215,7 +207,7 @@ defmodule Kernel.Utils do
           end
       end
 
-    case enforce_keys -- :maps.keys(struct) do
+    case enforce_keys -- :maps.keys(field_map) do
       [] ->
         mapper = fn {key, val} ->
           %{field: key, default: val, required: :lists.member(key, enforce_keys)}
@@ -225,10 +217,9 @@ defmodule Kernel.Utils do
         derive = :lists.map(fn {_, value} -> value end, :ets.take(bag, {:accumulate, :derive}))
         {struct, :lists.reverse(derive), escaped_struct, quote(do: kv), body}
 
-      error_keys ->
+      invalid_keys ->
         raise ArgumentError,
-              "@enforce_keys required keys (#{inspect(error_keys)}) that are not defined in defstruct: " <>
-                "#{inspect(fields)}"
+              "unknown or duplicate keys given to @enforce_keys, got: #{inspect(invalid_keys)}"
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/lib/elixir/test/elixir/kernel/errors_test.exs b/lib/elixir/test/elixir/kernel/errors_test.exs
index 6f2c1efaff..957cbe3123 100644
--- a/lib/elixir/test/elixir/kernel/errors_test.exs
+++ b/lib/elixir/test/elixir/kernel/errors_test.exs
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ defmodule Kernel.ErrorsTest do
       end
     end
 
-    test "good struct" do
+    test "valid struct" do
       defmodule GoodStruct do
         defstruct name: "john"
       end
@@ -415,22 +415,6 @@ defmodule Kernel.ErrorsTest do
         ~c"%#{GoodStruct}{age: 27} = %{}"
       )
     end
-
-    test "enforce @enforce_keys" do
-      defmodule EnforceKeys do
-        @enforce_keys [:foo]
-        defstruct(foo: nil)
-      end
-
-      assert_raise ArgumentError,
-                   "@enforce_keys required keys ([:fo, :bar]) that are not defined in defstruct: [foo: nil]",
-                   fn ->
-                     defmodule EnforceKeysError do
-                       @enforce_keys [:foo, :fo, :bar]
-                       defstruct(foo: nil)
-                     end
-                   end
-    end
   end
 
   test "invalid unquote" do
diff --git a/lib/elixir/test/elixir/map_test.exs b/lib/elixir/test/elixir/map_test.exs
index 2db2e297ea..14d00791b6 100644
--- a/lib/elixir/test/elixir/map_test.exs
+++ b/lib/elixir/test/elixir/map_test.exs
@@ -422,17 +422,42 @@ defmodule MapTest do
     end
   end
 
-  test "defstruct raises on invalid enforce_keys" do
-    message = "keys given to @enforce_keys must be atoms, got: \"foo\""
-
-    assert_raise ArgumentError, message, fn ->
-      Code.eval_string("""
-      defmodule TestMod do
-        @enforce_keys "foo"
-        defstruct [:foo]
-      end
-      """)
-    end
+  test "defstruct raises on unknown or duplicate enforce_keys" do
+    assert_raise ArgumentError,
+                 "unknown or duplicate keys given to @enforce_keys, got: [\"foo\"]",
+                 fn ->
+                   defmodule TestMod do
+                     @enforce_keys "foo"
+                     defstruct [:foo]
+                   end
+                 end
+
+    assert_raise ArgumentError,
+                 "unknown or duplicate keys given to @enforce_keys, got: [:foo, :bar]",
+                 fn ->
+                   defmodule TestMod do
+                     @enforce_keys [:foo, :bar, :foo, :bar]
+                     defstruct [:foo, :bar]
+                   end
+                 end
+
+    assert_raise ArgumentError,
+                 "unknown or duplicate keys given to @enforce_keys, got: [:unknown]",
+                 fn ->
+                   defmodule TestMod do
+                     @enforce_keys [:unknown]
+                     defstruct [:foo]
+                   end
+                 end
+
+    assert_raise ArgumentError,
+                 "unknown or duplicate keys given to @enforce_keys, got: [:__struct__]",
+                 fn ->
+                   defmodule TestMod do
+                     @enforce_keys [:__struct__]
+                     defstruct [:foo]
+                   end
+                 end
   end
 
   test "struct always expands context module" do