diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/segment/loading/DataSegmentPusher.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/segment/loading/DataSegmentPusher.java
index 98c75505c05f..65c46713cd8d 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/segment/loading/DataSegmentPusher.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/segment/loading/DataSegmentPusher.java
@@ -125,6 +125,11 @@ static String getDefaultStorageDir(DataSegment segment, boolean useUniquePath)
 
   static String getDefaultStorageDirWithExistingUniquePath(DataSegment segment, String uniquePath)
   {
+    Preconditions.checkArgument(
+        !(segment.getShardSpec() instanceof BucketNumberedShardSpec),
+        "Illegal shardSpec type[%s]",
+        segment.getShardSpec()
+    );
     return JOINER.join(
         segment.getDataSource(),
         StringUtils.format("%s_%s", segment.getInterval().getStart(), segment.getInterval().getEnd()),