diff --git a/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/appendix-with-bucket-dir-path.cfg b/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/appendix-with-bucket-dir-path.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9dc27bf8f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/appendix-with-bucket-dir-path.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+BUCKET_DIR_PATH="test-buckets"
+
diff --git a/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/appendix-with-fields.cfg b/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/appendix-with-fields.cfg
index 42c4d2459f..3a7d641878 100644
--- a/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/appendix-with-fields.cfg
+++ b/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/appendix-with-fields.cfg
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ FAILURE_SAFETY=2
 UNSAFE_QUORUM=false
 PUBLIC_HTTP_PORT=true
 RUN_STANDALONE=false
-BUCKET_DIR_PATH="test-buckets"
 HTTP_PORT = 6789
 PEER_PORT = 12345
 LOG_FILE_PATH = ""
@@ -64,4 +63,4 @@ VALIDATORS=[
     "GAXSWUO4RBELRQT5WMDLIKTRIKC722GGXX2GIGEYQZDQDLOTINQ4DX6F J_from_above",
     "GAWOEMG7DQDWHCFDTPJEBYWRKUUZTX2M2HLMNABM42G7C7IAPU54GL6X K_from_above",
     "GDZAJNUUDJFKTZX3YWZSOAS4S4NGCJ5RQAY7JPYBG5CUFL3JZ5C3ECOH L_from_above"
-]
\ No newline at end of file
+]
diff --git a/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/expected-offline-with-extra-fields.cfg b/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/expected-offline-with-extra-fields.cfg
index 5d2d74fb1a..d7b41a0b81 100644
--- a/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/expected-offline-with-extra-fields.cfg
+++ b/ingest/ledgerbackend/testdata/expected-offline-with-extra-fields.cfg
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # Generated file, do not edit
-BUCKET_DIR_PATH = "test-buckets"
 FAILURE_SAFETY = 0
 HTTP_PORT = 0
 LOG_FILE_PATH = ""
diff --git a/ingest/ledgerbackend/toml.go b/ingest/ledgerbackend/toml.go
index e5f7529a43..c6ac869a9f 100644
--- a/ingest/ledgerbackend/toml.go
+++ b/ingest/ledgerbackend/toml.go
@@ -326,6 +326,11 @@ func NewCaptiveCoreTomlFromFile(configPath string, params CaptiveCoreTomlParams)
 	if err = captiveCoreToml.unmarshal(data, params.Strict); err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "could not unmarshal captive core toml")
 	}
+	// disallow setting BUCKET_DIR_PATH through a file since it can cause multiple
+	// running captive-core instances to clash
+	if params.Strict && captiveCoreToml.BucketDirPath != "" {
+		return nil, errors.New("could not unmarshal captive core toml: setting BUCKET_DIR_PATH is disallowed, it can cause clashes between instances")
+	}
 
 	if err = captiveCoreToml.validate(params); err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "invalid captive core toml")
@@ -390,7 +395,7 @@ func (c *CaptiveCoreToml) CatchupToml() (*CaptiveCoreToml, error) {
 		// Add a fictional quorum -- necessary to convince core to start up;
 		// but not used at all for our purposes. Pubkey here is just random.
 		offline.QuorumSetEntries = map[string]QuorumSet{
-			"QUORUM_SET": QuorumSet{
+			"QUORUM_SET": {
 				ThresholdPercent: 100,
 				Validators:       []string{"GCZBOIAY4HLKAJVNJORXZOZRAY2BJDBZHKPBHZCRAIUR5IHC2UHBGCQR"},
 			},
diff --git a/ingest/ledgerbackend/toml_test.go b/ingest/ledgerbackend/toml_test.go
index 5052c85ced..b8da4de03c 100644
--- a/ingest/ledgerbackend/toml_test.go
+++ b/ingest/ledgerbackend/toml_test.go
@@ -186,6 +186,11 @@ func TestCaptiveCoreTomlValidation(t *testing.T) {
 			logPath:           nil,
 			expectedError:     "could not unmarshal captive core toml: these fields are not supported by captive core: [\"CATCHUP_RECENT\"]",
 		},
+		{
+			name:          "unexpected BUCKET_DIR_PATH",
+			appendPath:    filepath.Join("testdata", "appendix-with-bucket-dir-path.cfg"),
+			expectedError: "could not unmarshal captive core toml: setting BUCKET_DIR_PATH is disallowed, it can cause clashes between instances",
+		},
 	} {
 		t.Run(testCase.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			params := CaptiveCoreTomlParams{
diff --git a/services/horizon/CHANGELOG.md b/services/horizon/CHANGELOG.md
index b08fc20b33..803d20737c 100644
--- a/services/horizon/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/services/horizon/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ file. This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 * Handle replica conflict errors gracefully ([3674](https://github.com/stellar/go/pull/3674)).
 * Fix data race in request parameters handling ([3690](https://github.com/stellar/go/pull/3690)).
 * Fix bug where the configuration for `CAPTIVE_CORE_LOG_PATH`, `CAPTIVE_CORE_PEER_PORT`, and `CAPTIVE_CORE_HTTP_PORT` were ignored if they were configured via environment variables instead of command line arguments. ([3702](https://github.com/stellar/go/pull/3702)).
+* Error when setting `BUCKET_DIR_PATH` through `--captive-core-config-path` ([3707](https://github.com/stellar/go/pull/3707)).
 
 ## v2.4.1