diff --git a/lms/static/js/toggle_login_modal.js b/lms/static/js/toggle_login_modal.js
index 59d83a0dad..5301c893be 100644
--- a/lms/static/js/toggle_login_modal.js
+++ b/lms/static/js/toggle_login_modal.js
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@
           })
 
           $(modal_id).fadeTo(200,1);
+          var notice = $(this).data('notice')
+          if(notice !== undefined) {
+            $(modal_id).find(".notice").show().html(notice);
+          }
           e.preventDefault();
 
         });
diff --git a/lms/templates/portal/course_about.html b/lms/templates/portal/course_about.html
index 112333694f..ac7b5c5a49 100644
--- a/lms/templates/portal/course_about.html
+++ b/lms/templates/portal/course_about.html
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
         </hgroup>
 
         <div class="main-cta">
-          <a href="${reverse('enroll', args=[course.id])}" class="register">Register</a>
+          %if user.is_authenticated():
+            <a href="${reverse('enroll', args=[course.id])}" class="register">Register</a>
+          %else:
+            <a href="#signup-modal" class="register" rel="leanModal" data-notice="You must register in order to enroll">Register</a>
+          %endif
         </div>
 
       </section>
diff --git a/lms/templates/signup_modal.html b/lms/templates/signup_modal.html
index 3ab940c58e..e50f551c63 100644
--- a/lms/templates/signup_modal.html
+++ b/lms/templates/signup_modal.html
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
         <hr>
       </header>
 
+      <div class="notice"></div>
       <form id="enroll_form" method="post" data-remote="true" action="/create_account">
         <div id="enroll_error" class="modal-form-error" name="enroll_error"></div>
         <label>E-mail</label>