diff --git a/pkg/config/user_config_validation.go b/pkg/config/user_config_validation.go
index 23215eab6..7eeab32dd 100644
--- a/pkg/config/user_config_validation.go
+++ b/pkg/config/user_config_validation.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package config
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"reflect"
@@ -8,6 +9,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/constants"
+	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/utils"
+	"github.com/samber/lo"
 )
 
 func (config *UserConfig) Validate() error {
@@ -49,6 +52,22 @@ func (config *UserConfig) Validate() error {
 	if err := validateCustomCommands(config.CustomCommands); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if err := validateSpinner(config.Gui.Spinner); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func validateSpinner(spinner SpinnerConfig) error {
+	if len(spinner.Frames) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("gui.spinner.frames must not be empty.")
+	}
+	firstWidth := utils.StringWidth(spinner.Frames[0])
+	if lo.SomeBy(spinner.Frames, func(frame string) bool {
+		return utils.StringWidth(frame) != firstWidth
+	}) {
+		return errors.New("All gui.spinner.frames entries must have the same width.")
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/config/user_config_validation_test.go b/pkg/config/user_config_validation_test.go
index 7fbfd00d4..a2841684d 100644
--- a/pkg/config/user_config_validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/config/user_config_validation_test.go
@@ -289,3 +289,33 @@ func TestUserConfigValidate_enums(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestUserConfigValidate_spinnerFrames(t *testing.T) {
+	scenarios := []struct {
+		name   string
+		frames []string
+		valid  bool
+	}{
+		{name: "empty", frames: []string{}, valid: false},
+		{name: "single frame", frames: []string{"|"}, valid: true},
+		{name: "all same width", frames: []string{"|", "/", "-", "\\"}, valid: true},
+		{name: "all same width, multi-char", frames: []string{".  ", ".. ", "..."}, valid: true},
+		{name: "all same width, wide runes", frames: []string{"⠋", "⠙", "⠹"}, valid: true},
+		{name: "differing widths", frames: []string{"|", "//"}, valid: false},
+		{name: "first differs from rest", frames: []string{"||", "/", "-"}, valid: false},
+	}
+
+	for _, s := range scenarios {
+		t.Run(s.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			config := GetDefaultConfig()
+			config.Gui.Spinner.Frames = s.frames
+			err := config.Validate()
+
+			if s.valid {
+				assert.NoError(t, err)
+			} else {
+				assert.Error(t, err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}