diff --git a/op-deployer/pkg/deployer/apply.go b/op-deployer/pkg/deployer/apply.go
index 033ba84302162..ef4c5ca0ff146 100644
--- a/op-deployer/pkg/deployer/apply.go
+++ b/op-deployer/pkg/deployer/apply.go
@@ -58,6 +58,12 @@ func (a *ApplyConfig) Check() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("logger must be specified")
 	}
 
+	if a.DeploymentTarget == DeploymentTargetGenesis {
+		if a.L1RPCUrl != "" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("l1-rpc-url should not be specified when deployment-target is genesis")
+		}
+	}
+
 	if a.DeploymentTarget == DeploymentTargetLive {
 		if a.L1RPCUrl == "" {
 			return fmt.Errorf("l1 RPC URL must be specified for live deployment")
diff --git a/op-deployer/pkg/deployer/flags.go b/op-deployer/pkg/deployer/flags.go
index 8ef70b77b62f8..09e300981a2d5 100644
--- a/op-deployer/pkg/deployer/flags.go
+++ b/op-deployer/pkg/deployer/flags.go
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ var (
 	L1RPCURLFlag = &cli.StringFlag{
 		Name: L1RPCURLFlagName,
 		Usage: "RPC URL for the L1 chain. Must be set for live chains. " +
-			"Can be blank for chains deploying to local allocs files.",
+			"Must be blank for chains deploying to local allocs files.",
 		EnvVars: []string{
 			"L1_RPC_URL",
 		},