diff --git a/vllm/benchmarks/datasets.py b/vllm/benchmarks/datasets.py
index bf9e87198bcf..0a297479bcc0 100644
--- a/vllm/benchmarks/datasets.py
+++ b/vllm/benchmarks/datasets.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
   - HuggingFace
   - VisionArena
 """
+import argparse
 import ast
 import base64
 import io
@@ -1019,6 +1020,25 @@ def sample(
         return samples
 
 
+class _ValidateDatasetArgs(argparse.Action):
+    """Argparse action to validate dataset name and path compatibility."""
+    def __call__(self, parser, namespace, values, option_string=None):
+        setattr(namespace, self.dest, values)
+        
+        # Get current values of both dataset_name and dataset_path
+        dataset_name = getattr(namespace, 'dataset_name', 'random')
+        dataset_path = getattr(namespace, 'dataset_path', None)
+        
+        # Validate the combination
+        if dataset_name == "random" and dataset_path is not None:
+            parser.error(
+                "Cannot use 'random' dataset with --dataset-path. "
+                "Please specify the appropriate --dataset-name (e.g., "
+                "'sharegpt', 'custom', 'sonnet') for your dataset file: "
+                f"{dataset_path}"
+            )
+
+
 def add_dataset_parser(parser: FlexibleArgumentParser):
     parser.add_argument("--seed", type=int, default=0)
     parser.add_argument(
@@ -1031,6 +1051,7 @@ def add_dataset_parser(parser: FlexibleArgumentParser):
         "--dataset-name",
         type=str,
         default="random",
+        action=_ValidateDatasetArgs,
         choices=[
             "sharegpt", "burstgpt", "sonnet", "random", "random-mm", "hf", 
             "custom", "prefix_repetition", "spec_bench"
@@ -1046,6 +1067,7 @@ def add_dataset_parser(parser: FlexibleArgumentParser):
         "--dataset-path",
         type=str,
         default=None,
+        action=_ValidateDatasetArgs,
         help="Path to the sharegpt/sonnet dataset. "
         "Or the huggingface dataset ID if using HF dataset.",
     )