diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java
index c149f262046b7..bcd6e0577cd64 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Iterator;
@@ -403,10 +404,25 @@ private void maybeLogHeapDetails() {
     private static NodeMetaData loadOrCreateNodeMetaData(Settings settings, Logger logger,
                                                          NodePath... nodePaths) throws IOException {
         final Path[] paths = Arrays.stream(nodePaths).map(np -> np.path).toArray(Path[]::new);
+
+        final Set<String> nodeIds = new HashSet<>();
+        for (final Path path : paths) {
+            final NodeMetaData metaData = NodeMetaData.FORMAT.loadLatestState(logger, NamedXContentRegistry.EMPTY, path);
+            if (metaData != null) {
+                nodeIds.add(metaData.nodeId());
+            }
+        }
+        if (nodeIds.size() > 1) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException(
+                "data paths " + Arrays.toString(paths) + " belong to multiple nodes with IDs " + nodeIds);
+        }
+
         NodeMetaData metaData = NodeMetaData.FORMAT.loadLatestState(logger, NamedXContentRegistry.EMPTY, paths);
         if (metaData == null) {
+            assert nodeIds.isEmpty() : nodeIds;
             metaData = new NodeMetaData(generateNodeId(settings), Version.CURRENT);
         } else {
+            assert nodeIds.equals(Collections.singleton(metaData.nodeId())) : nodeIds + " doesn't match " + metaData;
             metaData = metaData.upgradeToCurrentVersion();
         }
 
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironmentIT.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironmentIT.java
index 74de578426f2c..daddd74ed909c 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironmentIT.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironmentIT.java
@@ -26,7 +26,10 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESIntegTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.InternalTestCluster;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.allOf;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
@@ -35,7 +38,7 @@
 
 @ESIntegTestCase.ClusterScope(scope = ESIntegTestCase.Scope.TEST, numDataNodes = 0)
 public class NodeEnvironmentIT extends ESIntegTestCase {
-    public void testStartFailureOnDataForNonDataNode() throws Exception {
+    public void testStartFailureOnDataForNonDataNode() {
         final String indexName = "test-fail-on-data";
 
         logger.info("--> starting one node");
@@ -123,4 +126,33 @@ public void testFailsToStartIfUpgradedTooFar() {
         assertThat(illegalStateException.getMessage(),
             allOf(startsWith("cannot upgrade a node from version ["), endsWith("] directly to version [" + Version.CURRENT + "]")));
     }
+
+    public void testFailsToStartOnDataPathsFromMultipleNodes() throws IOException {
+        final List<String> nodes = internalCluster().startNodes(2);
+        ensureStableCluster(2);
+
+        final List<String> node0DataPaths = Environment.PATH_DATA_SETTING.get(internalCluster().dataPathSettings(nodes.get(0)));
+        final List<String> node1DataPaths = Environment.PATH_DATA_SETTING.get(internalCluster().dataPathSettings(nodes.get(1)));
+
+        final List<String> allDataPaths = new ArrayList<>(node0DataPaths);
+        allDataPaths.addAll(node1DataPaths);
+
+        internalCluster().stopRandomNode(InternalTestCluster.nameFilter(nodes.get(1)));
+        internalCluster().stopRandomNode(InternalTestCluster.nameFilter(nodes.get(0)));
+
+        final IllegalStateException illegalStateException = expectThrows(IllegalStateException.class,
+            () -> internalCluster().startNode(Settings.builder().putList(Environment.PATH_DATA_SETTING.getKey(), allDataPaths)));
+
+        assertThat(illegalStateException.getMessage(), containsString("belong to multiple nodes with IDs"));
+
+        final List<String> node0DataPathsPlusOne = new ArrayList<>(node0DataPaths);
+        node0DataPathsPlusOne.add(createTempDir().toString());
+        internalCluster().startNode(Settings.builder().putList(Environment.PATH_DATA_SETTING.getKey(), node0DataPathsPlusOne));
+
+        final List<String> node1DataPathsPlusOne = new ArrayList<>(node1DataPaths);
+        node1DataPathsPlusOne.add(createTempDir().toString());
+        internalCluster().startNode(Settings.builder().putList(Environment.PATH_DATA_SETTING.getKey(), node1DataPathsPlusOne));
+
+        ensureStableCluster(2);
+    }
 }