diff --git a/google/cloud/sqlalchemy_spanner/sqlalchemy_spanner.py b/google/cloud/sqlalchemy_spanner/sqlalchemy_spanner.py
index 8e935fb2..3f52b8a5 100644
--- a/google/cloud/sqlalchemy_spanner/sqlalchemy_spanner.py
+++ b/google/cloud/sqlalchemy_spanner/sqlalchemy_spanner.py
@@ -798,10 +798,16 @@ class SpannerDialect(DefaultDialect):
     supports_sequences = True
     sequences_optional = False
     supports_identity_columns = True
-    supports_native_enum = True
     supports_native_boolean = True
     supports_native_decimal = True
     supports_statement_cache = True
+    # Spanner uses protos for enums. Creating a column like
+    # Column("an_enum", Enum("A", "B", "C")) will result in a String
+    # column. Setting supports_native_enum to False means SQLAlchemy
+    # will generate check constraints to enforce the enum values
+    # server-side rather than rely on a the database's native enum
+    # type to enforce them.
+    supports_native_enum = False
 
     postfetch_lastrowid = False
     insert_returning = True