diff --git a/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/storage/Formatter.java b/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/storage/Formatter.java
index 1ccf0c3d5c05a..d6b32498a67d0 100644
--- a/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/storage/Formatter.java
+++ b/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/storage/Formatter.java
@@ -229,13 +229,34 @@ public BootstrapMetadata bootstrapMetadata() {
         return bootstrapMetadata;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Validates the correctness of the given cluster id. A valid cluster id is a base64, urlencoded, no padding
+     * representation of a {@link Uuid}. These checks do not validate the absence of <code>-</code> character as
+     * {@link Uuid#randomUuid()} avoids them only for convenience reasons and such a validation would break
+     * compatibility when attempting to format using an old cluster id.
+     */
+    private void validateClusterId(String clusterId) {
+        if (clusterId == null) {
+            throw new FormatterException("You must specify the cluster id.");
+        }
+        if (clusterId.contains("=")) {
+            throw new FormatterException("The specified cluster id, " + clusterId + " is invalid: contains padding");
+        }
+        try {
+            Uuid uuid = Uuid.fromString(clusterId);
+            if (Uuid.RESERVED.contains(uuid)) {
+                throw new FormatterException("The specified cluster id, " + clusterId + " is reserved");
+            }
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            throw new FormatterException("The specified cluster id, " + clusterId + " is invalid", e);
+        }
+    }
+
     public void run() throws Exception {
         if (nodeId < 0) {
             throw new RuntimeException("You must specify a valid non-negative node ID.");
         }
-        if (clusterId == null) {
-            throw new FormatterException("You must specify the cluster id.");
-        }
+        validateClusterId(clusterId);
         if (directories.isEmpty()) {
             throw new FormatterException("You must specify at least one directory to format");
         }
diff --git a/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/storage/FormatterTest.java b/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/storage/FormatterTest.java
index dcfba4328aeb7..46d14202b0c4a 100644
--- a/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/storage/FormatterTest.java
+++ b/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/storage/FormatterTest.java
@@ -587,4 +587,28 @@ public void testFormatWithNoInitialControllers() throws Exception {
             assertNotNull(logDirProps1);
         }
     }
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @ValueSource(strings = {"unrvTtQISjar0JUWGU/8Pg", "igNUVIdeSPO5JCZYFhOh7Q==", "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA", "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ"})
+    public void testFormatWithInvalidClusterId(String clusterId) throws Exception {
+        try (TestEnv testEnv = new TestEnv(2)) {
+            FormatterContext formatter1 = testEnv.newFormatter();
+            formatter1.formatter.setClusterId(clusterId);
+            String expectedPrefix = "The specified cluster id, " + clusterId;
+            assertEquals(expectedPrefix,
+                    assertThrows(FormatterException.class,
+                            formatter1.formatter::run).
+                            getMessage().substring(0, expectedPrefix.length()));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @ValueSource(strings = {"iIygKoNNSpGzNeAEr_QW7w", "-w_KF-snTmuEnKPqZ0RDzA", "dZMgZA7nTLqZTdzb0zbvSQ", "hxqHyN2OSSmPajVhm_DR-Q"})
+    public void testFormatWithValidClusterId(String clusterId) throws Exception {
+        try (TestEnv testEnv = new TestEnv(2)) {
+            FormatterContext formatter1 = testEnv.newFormatter();
+            formatter1.formatter.setClusterId(clusterId);
+            formatter1.formatter.run();
+        }
+    }
 }