I had heard that so I asked my Viking Dealer. He said that it was true for certain very early walking feet, but he said I was just fine using it with all my Vikings. I love the serpentine stitch for putting binding down and use it often with my walking foot. My guess is any of the newer ones would it would be fine, but check with your dealer to make sure. And for newer, I bought my walking foot in 2001 and have used it with decorative stitches ever since.