diff --git a/bin/zfs-autobackup b/bin/zfs-autobackup
index 6f084c4..4b13721 100755
--- a/bin/zfs-autobackup
+++ b/bin/zfs-autobackup
@@ -1639,6 +1639,10 @@ class ZfsAutobackup:
         if args.resume:
             self.verbose("NOTE: The --resume option isn't needed anymore (its autodetected now)")
 
+        if args.target_path[0] == "/":
+            self.log.error("Target should not start with a /")
+            sys.exit(255)
+
     def verbose(self, txt):
         self.log.verbose(txt)