diff --git a/server/src/domain/library/library.dto.ts b/server/src/domain/library/library.dto.ts
index b11bc9998..5e4bb4ec6 100644
--- a/server/src/domain/library/library.dto.ts
+++ b/server/src/domain/library/library.dto.ts
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ export class ValidateLibraryResponseDto {
 
 export class ValidateLibraryImportPathResponseDto {
   importPath!: string;
-  isValid?: boolean = false;
+  isValid: boolean = false;
   message?: string;
 }
 
diff --git a/server/src/domain/library/library.service.spec.ts b/server/src/domain/library/library.service.spec.ts
index 98c334509..ffcb80df0 100644
--- a/server/src/domain/library/library.service.spec.ts
+++ b/server/src/domain/library/library.service.spec.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import {
   userStub,
 } from '@test';
 import { when } from 'jest-when';
+import { R_OK } from 'node:constants';
 import { Stats } from 'node:fs';
 import { ILibraryFileJob, ILibraryRefreshJob, JobName } from '../job';
 import {
@@ -1632,5 +1633,32 @@ describe(LibraryService.name, () => {
         },
       ]);
     });
+
+    it('should detect when import path is in immich media folder', async () => {
+      storageMock.stat.mockResolvedValue({ isDirectory: () => true } as Stats);
+      const validImport = libraryStub.hasImmichPaths.importPaths[1];
+      when(storageMock.checkFileExists).calledWith(validImport, R_OK).mockResolvedValue(true);
+
+      const result = await sut.validate(authStub.external1, libraryStub.hasImmichPaths.id, {
+        importPaths: libraryStub.hasImmichPaths.importPaths,
+      });
+
+      expect(result.importPaths).toEqual([
+        {
+          importPath: libraryStub.hasImmichPaths.importPaths[0],
+          isValid: false,
+          message: 'Cannot use media upload folder for external libraries',
+        },
+        {
+          importPath: validImport,
+          isValid: true,
+        },
+        {
+          importPath: libraryStub.hasImmichPaths.importPaths[2],
+          isValid: false,
+          message: 'Cannot use media upload folder for external libraries',
+        },
+      ]);
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/server/src/domain/library/library.service.ts b/server/src/domain/library/library.service.ts
index dec54c155..d24c9cdc1 100644
--- a/server/src/domain/library/library.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/domain/library/library.service.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import {
   StorageEventType,
   WithProperty,
 } from '../repositories';
+import { StorageCore } from '../storage';
 import { SystemConfigCore } from '../system-config';
 import {
   CreateLibraryDto,
@@ -327,9 +328,13 @@ export class LibraryService extends EventEmitter {
     const validation = new ValidateLibraryImportPathResponseDto();
     validation.importPath = importPath;
 
+    if (StorageCore.isImmichPath(importPath)) {
+      validation.message = 'Cannot use media upload folder for external libraries';
+      return validation;
+    }
+
     try {
       const stat = await this.storageRepository.stat(importPath);
-
       if (!stat.isDirectory()) {
         validation.message = 'Not a directory';
         return validation;
@@ -678,13 +683,13 @@ export class LibraryService extends EventEmitter {
         this.logger.debug(`Will import ${crawledAssetPaths.size} new asset(s)`);
       }
 
-      const batch = [];
+      let batch = [];
       for (const assetPath of crawledAssetPaths) {
         batch.push(assetPath);
 
         if (batch.length >= LIBRARY_SCAN_BATCH_SIZE) {
           await this.scanAssets(job.id, batch, library.ownerId, job.refreshAllFiles ?? false);
-          batch.length = 0;
+          batch = [];
         }
       }
 
diff --git a/server/src/domain/storage/storage.core.ts b/server/src/domain/storage/storage.core.ts
index 30a6002be..36e600b24 100644
--- a/server/src/domain/storage/storage.core.ts
+++ b/server/src/domain/storage/storage.core.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ export enum StorageFolder {
   THUMBNAILS = 'thumbs',
 }
 
+export const THUMBNAIL_DIR = resolve(join(APP_MEDIA_LOCATION, StorageFolder.THUMBNAILS));
+export const ENCODED_VIDEO_DIR = resolve(join(APP_MEDIA_LOCATION, StorageFolder.ENCODED_VIDEO));
+
 export interface MoveRequest {
   entityId: string;
   pathType: PathType;
@@ -115,6 +118,10 @@ export class StorageCore {
     return resolve(path).startsWith(resolve(APP_MEDIA_LOCATION));
   }
 
+  static isGeneratedAsset(path: string) {
+    return path.startsWith(THUMBNAIL_DIR) || path.startsWith(ENCODED_VIDEO_DIR);
+  }
+
   async moveAssetFile(asset: AssetEntity, pathType: GeneratedAssetPath) {
     const { id: entityId, resizePath, webpPath, encodedVideoPath } = asset;
     switch (pathType) {
diff --git a/server/test/fixtures/library.stub.ts b/server/test/fixtures/library.stub.ts
index ec8e19683..db7687f28 100644
--- a/server/test/fixtures/library.stub.ts
+++ b/server/test/fixtures/library.stub.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+import { APP_MEDIA_LOCATION, THUMBNAIL_DIR } from '@app/domain';
 import { LibraryEntity, LibraryType } from '@app/infra/entities';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { userStub } from './user.stub';
 
 export const libraryStub = {
@@ -100,4 +102,18 @@ export const libraryStub = {
     isVisible: true,
     exclusionPatterns: ['**/dir1/**'],
   }),
+  hasImmichPaths: Object.freeze<LibraryEntity>({
+    id: 'library-id1337',
+    name: 'importpath-exclusion-library1',
+    assets: [],
+    owner: userStub.admin,
+    ownerId: 'user-id',
+    type: LibraryType.EXTERNAL,
+    importPaths: [join(THUMBNAIL_DIR, 'library'), '/xyz', join(APP_MEDIA_LOCATION, 'library')],
+    createdAt: new Date('2023-01-01'),
+    updatedAt: new Date('2023-01-01'),
+    refreshedAt: null,
+    isVisible: true,
+    exclusionPatterns: ['**/dir1/**'],
+  }),
 };