diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 3238a9097d86e1..4c8dfa75cb0fde 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ name = "agave-validator"
 version = "2.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "agave-geyser-plugin-interface",
+ "assert_cmd",
  "chrono",
  "clap 2.33.3",
  "console",
@@ -236,6 +237,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "libloading",
  "log",
  "num_cpus",
+ "predicates",
  "rand 0.8.5",
  "rayon",
  "serde",
@@ -277,6 +279,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "solana-vote-program",
  "spl-token-2022",
  "symlink",
+ "tempfile",
  "thiserror",
  "tikv-jemallocator",
  "tokio",
diff --git a/validator/Cargo.toml b/validator/Cargo.toml
index 6222435906a31d..39e5c4d1b19d0e 100644
--- a/validator/Cargo.toml
+++ b/validator/Cargo.toml
@@ -69,10 +69,13 @@ thiserror = { workspace = true }
 tokio = { workspace = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
+assert_cmd = { workspace = true }
+predicates = { workspace = true }
 solana-account-decoder = { workspace = true }
 solana-inline-spl = { workspace = true }
 solana-runtime = { workspace = true, features = ["dev-context-only-utils"] }
 spl-token-2022 = { workspace = true, features = ["no-entrypoint"] }
+tempfile = { workspace = true }
 
 [target.'cfg(not(target_env = "msvc"))'.dependencies]
 jemallocator = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/validator/src/main.rs b/validator/src/main.rs
index f6cdcdd928eb3a..78903288abcb0c 100644
--- a/validator/src/main.rs
+++ b/validator/src/main.rs
@@ -1593,6 +1593,23 @@ pub fn main() {
     } else {
         &ledger_path
     };
+    let snapshots_dir = fs::canonicalize(snapshots_dir).unwrap_or_else(|err| {
+        eprintln!(
+            "Failed to canonicalize snapshots path '{}': {err}",
+            snapshots_dir.display(),
+        );
+        exit(1);
+    });
+    if account_paths
+        .iter()
+        .any(|account_path| account_path == &snapshots_dir)
+    {
+        eprintln!(
+            "Failed: The --accounts and --snapshots paths must be unique since they \
+             both create 'snapshots' subdirectories, otherwise there may be collisions",
+        );
+        exit(1);
+    }
 
     let bank_snapshots_dir = snapshots_dir.join("snapshots");
     fs::create_dir_all(&bank_snapshots_dir).unwrap_or_else(|err| {
@@ -1603,13 +1620,12 @@ pub fn main() {
         exit(1);
     });
 
-    let full_snapshot_archives_dir = PathBuf::from(
+    let full_snapshot_archives_dir =
         if let Some(full_snapshot_archive_path) = matches.value_of("full_snapshot_archive_path") {
-            Path::new(full_snapshot_archive_path)
+            PathBuf::from(full_snapshot_archive_path)
         } else {
-            snapshots_dir
-        },
-    );
+            snapshots_dir.clone()
+        };
     fs::create_dir_all(&full_snapshot_archives_dir).unwrap_or_else(|err| {
         eprintln!(
             "Failed to create full snapshot archives directory '{}': {err}",
@@ -1618,15 +1634,13 @@ pub fn main() {
         exit(1);
     });
 
-    let incremental_snapshot_archives_dir = PathBuf::from(
-        if let Some(incremental_snapshot_archive_path) =
-            matches.value_of("incremental_snapshot_archive_path")
-        {
-            Path::new(incremental_snapshot_archive_path)
-        } else {
-            snapshots_dir
-        },
-    );
+    let incremental_snapshot_archives_dir = if let Some(incremental_snapshot_archive_path) =
+        matches.value_of("incremental_snapshot_archive_path")
+    {
+        PathBuf::from(incremental_snapshot_archive_path)
+    } else {
+        snapshots_dir.clone()
+    };
     fs::create_dir_all(&incremental_snapshot_archives_dir).unwrap_or_else(|err| {
         eprintln!(
             "Failed to create incremental snapshot archives directory '{}': {err}",
diff --git a/validator/tests/cli.rs b/validator/tests/cli.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..3757df96df1d8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/validator/tests/cli.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+use {
+    assert_cmd::prelude::*,
+    solana_sdk::signer::keypair::{write_keypair_file, Keypair},
+    std::process::Command,
+    tempfile::TempDir,
+};
+
+#[test]
+fn test_use_the_same_path_for_accounts_and_snapshots() {
+    let temp_dir = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    let temp_dir_path = temp_dir.path();
+
+    let id_json_path = temp_dir_path.join("id.json");
+    let id_json_str = id_json_path.to_str().unwrap();
+
+    let keypair = Keypair::new();
+    write_keypair_file(&keypair, id_json_str).unwrap();
+
+    let temp_dir_str = temp_dir_path.to_str().unwrap();
+
+    let mut cmd = Command::cargo_bin(env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME")).unwrap();
+    cmd.args([
+        "--identity",
+        id_json_str,
+        "--log",
+        "-",
+        "--no-voting",
+        "--accounts",
+        temp_dir_str,
+        "--snapshots",
+        temp_dir_str,
+    ]);
+    cmd.assert().failure().stderr(predicates::str::contains(
+        "The --accounts and --snapshots paths must be unique",
+    ));
+}