diff --git a/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/exceptions/InvalidObjectNameException.java b/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/exceptions/InvalidObjectNameException.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..10a2114ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/exceptions/InvalidObjectNameException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package org.molgenis.armadillo.exceptions;
+
+import static java.lang.String.format;
+import static org.springframework.http.HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST;
+
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ResponseStatus;
+
+@ResponseStatus(BAD_REQUEST)
+public class InvalidObjectNameException extends RuntimeException {
+
+    public InvalidObjectNameException(String objectName) {
+        super(
+                format(
+                        "Object name '%s' is invalid. Object format should be in the following format: folder/file.",
+                        objectName));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloLinkFile.java b/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloLinkFile.java
index 7de019254..6b65790dc 100644
--- a/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloLinkFile.java
+++ b/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloLinkFile.java
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ public ArmadilloLinkFile(
       String variables,
       String linkObject,
       String project) {
+    if (!isValidLinkObject(linkObject)) {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException(format("Invalid link object: %s", linkObject));
+    }
     this.linkObject = linkObject;
     this.sourceProject = sourceProject;
     this.sourceObject = sourceObject;
@@ -70,6 +73,22 @@ public ArmadilloLinkFile(InputStream armadilloLinkStream, String linkProject, St
     }
   }
 
+  static Boolean isValidLinkObject(String linkObject) {
+    if (linkObject.endsWith("/")) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    int count = 0;
+    for (int i = 0; i < linkObject.length(); i++) {
+      if (linkObject.charAt(i) == '/') {
+        count++;
+        if (count > 1) {
+          return false;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    return count == 1;
+  }
+
   public String getSourceProject() {
     return this.sourceProject;
   }
diff --git a/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloStorageService.java b/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloStorageService.java
index 2252aa7d4..09eff3640 100644
--- a/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloStorageService.java
+++ b/armadillo/src/main/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloStorageService.java
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public void createLinkedObject(
       String linkName,
       String linkProject,
       String variables)
-      throws IOException {
+      throws IOException, StorageException {
     throwIfUnknown(sourceProject, sourceObject + PARQUET);
     throwIfUnknown(linkProject);
     throwIfDuplicate(linkProject, linkName + LINK_FILE);
@@ -102,11 +102,15 @@ public void createLinkedObject(
       throw new UnknownVariableException(
           sourceProject, sourceObject, unavailableVariables.toString());
     }
-    ArmadilloLinkFile armadilloLinkFile =
-        createLinkFileFromSource(sourceProject, sourceObject, variables, linkName, linkProject);
-    InputStream is = armadilloLinkFile.toStream();
-    storageService.save(
-        is, SHARED_PREFIX + linkProject, armadilloLinkFile.getFileName(), APPLICATION_JSON);
+    try {
+      ArmadilloLinkFile armadilloLinkFile =
+              createLinkFileFromSource(sourceProject, sourceObject, variables, linkName, linkProject);
+      InputStream is = armadilloLinkFile.toStream();
+      storageService.save(
+              is, SHARED_PREFIX + linkProject, armadilloLinkFile.getFileName(), APPLICATION_JSON);
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+      throw new InvalidObjectNameException(linkName);
+    }
   }
 
   public ArmadilloLinkFile createArmadilloLinkFileFromStream(
@@ -223,17 +227,18 @@ private static Workspace toWorkspace(ObjectMetadata item) {
         .build();
   }
 
-  private void trySaveWorkspace (ArmadilloWorkspace workspace, Principal principal, String id) {
+  private void trySaveWorkspace(ArmadilloWorkspace workspace, Principal principal, String id) {
     try {
       storageService.save(
-              workspace.createInputStream(),
-              getUserBucketName(principal),
-              getWorkspaceObjectName(id),
-              APPLICATION_OCTET_STREAM);
+          workspace.createInputStream(),
+          getUserBucketName(principal),
+          getWorkspaceObjectName(id),
+          APPLICATION_OCTET_STREAM);
     } catch (StorageException e) {
       throw new StorageException(e);
     }
   }
+
   public void saveWorkspace(InputStream is, Principal principal, String id) {
     // Load root dir
     File drive = new File("/");
diff --git a/armadillo/src/test/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloLinkFileTest.java b/armadillo/src/test/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloLinkFileTest.java
index deb20698f..119abb93b 100644
--- a/armadillo/src/test/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloLinkFileTest.java
+++ b/armadillo/src/test/java/org/molgenis/armadillo/storage/ArmadilloLinkFileTest.java
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 package org.molgenis.armadillo.storage;
 
 import static java.lang.String.format;
-import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
+import static org.molgenis.armadillo.storage.ArmadilloLinkFile.isValidLinkObject;
 
 import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
 import com.google.gson.JsonParseException;
@@ -102,6 +103,30 @@ public void testLoadLinkFileFromStreamInvalidProject() {
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testIsValidLinkObjectTooManySlashes() {
+    String tooManySlashes = "/this/is/too/many";
+    assertFalse(isValidLinkObject(tooManySlashes));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testIsValidLinkObjectEndsWithSlash() {
+    String endsWithSlash = "endswith/";
+    assertFalse(isValidLinkObject(endsWithSlash));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testIsValidLinkObjectNotEnoughSlashes() {
+    String noSlash = "no slash";
+    assertFalse(isValidLinkObject(noSlash));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testIsValidLinkObjectSucceeds() {
+    String object = "folder/file";
+    assertTrue(isValidLinkObject(object));
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testLoadLinkFileFromStreamInvalidVariables() {
     String testData =