diff --git a/src/nvim/main.c b/src/nvim/main.c
index d4fbf8ce93..f27ebb2f67 100644
--- a/src/nvim/main.c
+++ b/src/nvim/main.c
@@ -250,6 +250,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
   argv0 = argv[0];
 
+  if (!appname_is_valid()) {
+    os_errmsg("$NVIM_APPNAME is not a valid file name.\n");
+    exit(1);
+  }
+
   if (argc > 1 && STRICMP(argv[1], "-ll") == 0) {
     if (argc == 2) {
       print_mainerr(err_arg_missing, argv[1]);
diff --git a/src/nvim/os/stdpaths.c b/src/nvim/os/stdpaths.c
index 8b62b9e895..53ddda22fa 100644
--- a/src/nvim/os/stdpaths.c
+++ b/src/nvim/os/stdpaths.c
@@ -69,6 +69,19 @@ const char *get_appname(void)
   return env_val;
 }
 
+/// Ensure that APPNAME is valid. In particular, it cannot contain directory separators.
+bool appname_is_valid(void)
+{
+  const char *appname = get_appname();
+  const size_t appname_len = strlen(appname);
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < appname_len; i++) {
+    if (appname[i] == PATHSEP) {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
 /// Return XDG variable value
 ///
 /// @param[in]  idx  XDG variable to use.
diff --git a/test/functional/options/defaults_spec.lua b/test/functional/options/defaults_spec.lua
index 3690b7e97c..60edf219d9 100644
--- a/test/functional/options/defaults_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/options/defaults_spec.lua
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ local ok = helpers.ok
 local funcs = helpers.funcs
 local insert = helpers.insert
 local neq = helpers.neq
+local nvim_prog = helpers.nvim_prog
 local mkdir = helpers.mkdir
 local rmdir = helpers.rmdir
 local alter_slashes = helpers.alter_slashes
@@ -603,6 +604,10 @@ describe('stdpath()', function()
       eq(appname, funcs.fnamemodify(funcs.stdpath('data_dirs')[1], ':t'))
     end
     assert_alive()  -- Check for crash. #8393
+
+    --  Check that nvim rejects invalid APPNAMEs
+    local child = funcs.jobstart({ nvim_prog }, {env={NVIM_APPNAME='a/b\\c'}})
+    eq(1, funcs.jobwait({child}, 3000)[1])
   end)
 
   context('returns a String', function()