diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 9d8f7e4aa..9a33c7319 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ Note that exploration uses the `chaos` mode so if you need to reproduce a run, u
 SEED=1234 ./whopper/bin/run --mode chaos
 ```
 
-Both `explore` and `run` accept `--enable-checksums` flag to enable per page checksums.
+Both `explore` and `run` accept the `--enable-checksums` and `--enable-encryption` flags for per page checksums and encryption respectively.
 
 ## Python Bindings
 
diff --git a/whopper/bin/explore b/whopper/bin/explore
index c5480a3a7..6c664fffe 100755
--- a/whopper/bin/explore
+++ b/whopper/bin/explore
@@ -1,18 +1,34 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+# Usage: ./explore.sh [--enable-checksums|--enable-encryption] [other-args...]
+
 set -e
 
-# Check for special build time flags (e.g. `--enable-checksums`)
+# Check for special build time flags (e.g. `--enable-checksums`, `--enable-encryption`)
 FEATURES=""
 ARGS=()
+CHECKSUM_ENABLED=false
+ENCRYPTION_ENABLED=false
+
 for arg in "$@"; do
     if [[ "$arg" == "--enable-checksums" ]]; then
         FEATURES="--features checksum"
+        CHECKSUM_ENABLED=true
+    elif [[ "$arg" == "--enable-encryption" ]]; then
+        FEATURES="--features encryption"
+        ENCRYPTION_ENABLED=true
+        ARGS+=("$arg")
     else
         ARGS+=("$arg")
     fi
 done
 
+# check for incompatible options
+if [[ "$CHECKSUM_ENABLED" == true && "$ENCRYPTION_ENABLED" == true ]]; then
+    echo "Error: --enable-checksums and --enable-encryption are not compatible with each other"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 cargo build $FEATURES -p turso_whopper
 
 echo "Running Whopper in an infinite loop in 'chaos' mode..."
diff --git a/whopper/bin/run b/whopper/bin/run
index 8d6fc4b4e..79aead371 100755
--- a/whopper/bin/run
+++ b/whopper/bin/run
@@ -1,18 +1,34 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+# Usage: ./run.sh [--enable-checksums|--enable-encryption] [other-args...]
+
 set -e
 
-# Check for special build time flags (e.g. `--enable-checksums`)
+# Check for special build time flags (e.g. `--enable-checksums`, `--enable-encryption`)
 FEATURES=""
 ARGS=()
+CHECKSUM_ENABLED=false
+ENCRYPTION_ENABLED=false
+
 for arg in "$@"; do
     if [[ "$arg" == "--enable-checksums" ]]; then
         FEATURES="--features checksum"
+        CHECKSUM_ENABLED=true
+    elif [[ "$arg" == "--enable-encryption" ]]; then
+        FEATURES="--features encryption"
+        ENCRYPTION_ENABLED=true
+        ARGS+=("$arg")
     else
         ARGS+=("$arg")
     fi
 done
 
+# check for incompatible options
+if [[ "$CHECKSUM_ENABLED" == true && "$ENCRYPTION_ENABLED" == true ]]; then
+    echo "Error: --enable-checksums and --enable-encryption are not compatible with each other"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 cargo build $FEATURES -p turso_whopper
 
 time RUST_BACKTRACE=full ./target/debug/turso_whopper "${ARGS[@]}"
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