diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.modinst b/scripts/Makefile.modinst
index 16a02e9237d3..a4c987c23750 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.modinst
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.modinst
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ INSTALL_MOD_DIR ?= extra
 dst := $(MODLIB)/$(INSTALL_MOD_DIR)
 endif
 
+$(foreach x, % :, $(if $(findstring $x, $(dst)), \
+	$(error module installation path cannot contain '$x')))
+
 suffix-y				:=
 suffix-$(CONFIG_MODULE_COMPRESS_GZIP)	:= .gz
 suffix-$(CONFIG_MODULE_COMPRESS_XZ)	:= .xz