diff --git a/raft/fsm.cc b/raft/fsm.cc
index 124d1d29a0..16e823afb5 100644
--- a/raft/fsm.cc
+++ b/raft/fsm.cc
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ fsm::fsm(server_id id, term_t current_term, server_id voted_for, log log,
         failure_detector& failure_detector, fsm_config config) :
         _my_id(id), _current_term(current_term), _voted_for(voted_for),
         _log(std::move(log)), _failure_detector(failure_detector), _config(config) {
+    if (id == raft::server_id{}) {
+        throw std::invalid_argument("raft::fsm: raft instance cannot have id zero");
+    }
     // The snapshot can not contain uncommitted entries
     _commit_idx = _log.get_snapshot().idx;
     _observed.advance(*this);
diff --git a/raft/raft.hh b/raft/raft.hh
index e004c23c1e..8ba50167d9 100644
--- a/raft/raft.hh
+++ b/raft/raft.hh
@@ -104,12 +104,19 @@ struct configuration {
     configuration(std::initializer_list<server_id> ids) {
         current.reserve(ids.size());
         for (auto&& id : ids) {
+            if (id == server_id{}) {
+                throw std::invalid_argument("raft::configuration: id zero is not supported");
+            }
             current.emplace(server_address{std::move(id)});
         }
     }
 
     configuration(server_address_set current_arg = {}, server_address_set previous_arg = {})
-        : current(std::move(current_arg)), previous(std::move(previous_arg)) {}
+        : current(std::move(current_arg)), previous(std::move(previous_arg)) {
+            if (current.count(server_address{server_id()}) || previous.count(server_address{server_id()})) {
+                throw std::invalid_argument("raft::configuration: id zero is not supported");
+            }
+        }
 
     // Return true if the previous configuration is still
     // in use