diff --git a/monai/networks/nets/densenet.py b/monai/networks/nets/densenet.py
index e9f3b6d33e..dc2c07bb12 100644
--- a/monai/networks/nets/densenet.py
+++ b/monai/networks/nets/densenet.py
@@ -306,7 +306,11 @@ def __init__(
             **kwargs,
         )
         if pretrained:
-            # it only worked when `spatial_dims` is 2
+            if kwargs["spatial_dims"] > 2:
+                raise NotImplementedError(
+                    "Parameter `spatial_dims` is > 2 ; currently PyTorch Hub does not"
+                    "provide pretrained models for more than two spatial dimensions."
+                )
             _load_state_dict(self, "densenet121", progress)
 
 
@@ -329,7 +333,11 @@ def __init__(
             **kwargs,
         )
         if pretrained:
-            # it only worked when `spatial_dims` is 2
+            if kwargs["spatial_dims"] > 2:
+                raise NotImplementedError(
+                    "Parameter `spatial_dims` is > 2 ; currently PyTorch Hub does not"
+                    "provide pretrained models for more than two spatial dimensions."
+                )
             _load_state_dict(self, "densenet169", progress)
 
 
@@ -352,7 +360,11 @@ def __init__(
             **kwargs,
         )
         if pretrained:
-            # it only worked when `spatial_dims` is 2
+            if kwargs["spatial_dims"] > 2:
+                raise NotImplementedError(
+                    "Parameter `spatial_dims` is > 2 ; currently PyTorch Hub does not"
+                    "provide pretrained models for more than two spatial dimensions."
+                )
             _load_state_dict(self, "densenet201", progress)