diff --git a/hadoop-ozone/ozone-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/om/OmSnapshotManager.java b/hadoop-ozone/ozone-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/om/OmSnapshotManager.java
index 4a2e93f6c436..80301fd47ba6 100644
--- a/hadoop-ozone/ozone-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/om/OmSnapshotManager.java
+++ b/hadoop-ozone/ozone-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/om/OmSnapshotManager.java
@@ -217,6 +217,9 @@ public OmSnapshotManager(OzoneManager ozoneManager) {
         OZONE_OM_SNAPSHOT_DB_MAX_OPEN_FILES,
         OZONE_OM_SNAPSHOT_DB_MAX_OPEN_FILES_DEFAULT
     );
+    Preconditions.checkArgument(this.maxOpenSstFilesInSnapshotDb > 0,
+        OZONE_OM_SNAPSHOT_DB_MAX_OPEN_FILES + " must be positive.");
+
     ColumnFamilyHandle snapDiffJobCf;
     ColumnFamilyHandle snapDiffReportCf;
     ColumnFamilyHandle snapDiffPurgedJobCf;
diff --git a/hadoop-ozone/ozone-manager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/om/TestOmSnapshotManager.java b/hadoop-ozone/ozone-manager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/om/TestOmSnapshotManager.java
index ff65978728ca..7df24e2c3b44 100644
--- a/hadoop-ozone/ozone-manager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/om/TestOmSnapshotManager.java
+++ b/hadoop-ozone/ozone-manager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/om/TestOmSnapshotManager.java
@@ -749,4 +749,14 @@ private SnapshotInfo createSnapshotInfo(String volumeName,
         UUID.randomUUID(),
         Time.now());
   }
+
+  @Test
+  void testNegativeMaxOpenFiles(@TempDir File tempDir) throws Exception {
+    OzoneConfiguration conf = new OzoneConfiguration();
+    conf.set(HddsConfigKeys.OZONE_METADATA_DIRS, tempDir.getAbsolutePath());
+    conf.setInt(OMConfigKeys.OZONE_OM_SNAPSHOT_DB_MAX_OPEN_FILES, 0);
+    conf.setBoolean(OMConfigKeys.OZONE_FILESYSTEM_SNAPSHOT_ENABLED_KEY, true);
+
+    assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> new OmTestManagers(conf));
+  }
 }