diff --git a/java-spiffe-core/src/main/java/io/spiffe/svid/x509svid/X509Svid.java b/java-spiffe-core/src/main/java/io/spiffe/svid/x509svid/X509Svid.java
index e380d3c9..47d5fd2d 100644
--- a/java-spiffe-core/src/main/java/io/spiffe/svid/x509svid/X509Svid.java
+++ b/java-spiffe-core/src/main/java/io/spiffe/svid/x509svid/X509Svid.java
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ private static X509Svid createX509Svid(final byte[] certsBytes,
         final PrivateKey privateKey = generatePrivateKey(privateKeyBytes, keyFileFormat, x509Certificates);
         final SpiffeId spiffeId = getSpiffeId(x509Certificates);
 
+        validateLeafSpiffeId(spiffeId);
         validateLeafCertificate(x509Certificates.get(0));
 
         // there are intermediate CA certificates
@@ -227,6 +228,13 @@ private static X509Svid createX509Svid(final byte[] certsBytes,
         return new X509Svid(spiffeId, x509Certificates, privateKey, hint);
     }
 
+    private static void validateLeafSpiffeId(final SpiffeId spiffeId) throws X509SvidException {
+        final String path = spiffeId.getPath();
+        if (path == null || path.isEmpty()) {
+            throw new X509SvidException("Leaf certificate SPIFFE ID must have a non-root path");
+        }
+    }
+
     private static SpiffeId getSpiffeId(final List<X509Certificate> x509Certificates) throws X509SvidException {
         final SpiffeId spiffeId;
         try {
diff --git a/java-spiffe-core/src/test/java/io/spiffe/svid/x509svid/X509SvidTest.java b/java-spiffe-core/src/test/java/io/spiffe/svid/x509svid/X509SvidTest.java
index da852e80..5689c25d 100644
--- a/java-spiffe-core/src/test/java/io/spiffe/svid/x509svid/X509SvidTest.java
+++ b/java-spiffe-core/src/test/java/io/spiffe/svid/x509svid/X509SvidTest.java
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 package io.spiffe.svid.x509svid;
 
+import io.spiffe.exception.InvalidSpiffeIdException;
 import io.spiffe.exception.X509SvidException;
 import io.spiffe.spiffeid.SpiffeId;
 import io.spiffe.spiffeid.TrustDomain;
+import io.spiffe.utils.CertAndKeyPair;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.Arguments;
@@ -18,8 +20,11 @@
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
 import static io.spiffe.utils.TestUtils.toUri;
+import static io.spiffe.utils.X509CertificateTestUtils.createCertificate;
+import static io.spiffe.utils.X509CertificateTestUtils.createRootCA;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.fail;
 
 class X509SvidTest {
@@ -315,6 +320,38 @@ void testGetChainArray() throws URISyntaxException, X509SvidException {
         assertEquals(x509Svid.getChain().get(1), x509CertificatesArray[1]);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void parseRaw_leafSpiffeIdWithoutPath_isRejected() throws Exception {
+        CertAndKeyPair rootCa = createRootCA("C = US, O = SPIFFE", "spiffe://example.org");
+        CertAndKeyPair leaf = createCertificate("C = US, O = SPIRE", "C = US, O = SPIFFE", "spiffe://example.org", rootCa, false);
+
+        byte[] certBytes = leaf.getCertificate().getEncoded();
+        byte[] keyBytes = leaf.getKeyPair().getPrivate().getEncoded();
+
+        X509SvidException exception = assertThrows(
+                X509SvidException.class,
+                () -> X509Svid.parseRaw(certBytes, keyBytes)
+        );
+
+        assertEquals("Leaf certificate SPIFFE ID must have a non-root path", exception.getMessage());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void parseRaw_leafSpiffeIdWithRootOnlyPath_isRejected() throws Exception {
+        CertAndKeyPair rootCa = createRootCA("C = US, O = SPIFFE", "spiffe://example.org");
+        CertAndKeyPair leaf = createCertificate("C = US, O = SPIRE", "C = US, O = SPIFFE", "spiffe://example.org/", rootCa, false);
+
+        byte[] certBytes = leaf.getCertificate().getEncoded();
+        byte[] keyBytes = leaf.getKeyPair().getPrivate().getEncoded();
+
+        InvalidSpiffeIdException exception = assertThrows(
+                InvalidSpiffeIdException.class,
+                () -> X509Svid.parseRaw(certBytes, keyBytes)
+        );
+
+        assertEquals("Path cannot have a trailing slash", exception.getMessage());
+    }
+
     @ParameterizedTest
     @MethodSource("provideX509SvidScenarios")
     void parseX509Svid(TestCase testCase) {