diff --git a/src/wallet/load.cpp b/src/wallet/load.cpp
index 129b5c7c2a0..81f5e300820 100644
--- a/src/wallet/load.cpp
+++ b/src/wallet/load.cpp
@@ -77,6 +77,11 @@ bool VerifyWallets(WalletContext& context)
     std::set<fs::path> wallet_paths;
 
     for (const auto& wallet : chain.getSettingsList("wallet")) {
+        if (!wallet.isStr()) {
+            chain.initError(_("Invalid value detected for '-wallet' or '-nowallet'. "
+                              "'-wallet' requires a string value, while '-nowallet' accepts only '1' to disable all wallets"));
+            return false;
+        }
         const auto& wallet_file = wallet.get_str();
         const fs::path path = fsbridge::AbsPathJoin(GetWalletDir(), fs::PathFromString(wallet_file));
 
@@ -110,6 +115,11 @@ bool LoadWallets(WalletContext& context)
     try {
         std::set<fs::path> wallet_paths;
         for (const auto& wallet : chain.getSettingsList("wallet")) {
+            if (!wallet.isStr()) {
+                chain.initError(_("Invalid value detected for '-wallet' or '-nowallet'. "
+                                  "'-wallet' requires a string value, while '-nowallet' accepts only '1' to disable all wallets"));
+                return false;
+            }
             const auto& name = wallet.get_str();
             if (!wallet_paths.insert(fs::PathFromString(name)).second) {
                 continue;
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_config_args.py b/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
index bb20e2baa85..44c7edf9626 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
@@ -153,6 +153,13 @@ class ConfArgsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
             expected_msg='Error: Error parsing command line arguments: Can not set -proxy with no value. Please specify value with -proxy=value.',
             extra_args=['-proxy'],
         )
+        # Provide a value different from 1 to the -wallet negated option
+        if self.is_wallet_compiled():
+            for value in [0, 'not_a_boolean']:
+                self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(
+                    expected_msg="Error: Invalid value detected for '-wallet' or '-nowallet'. '-wallet' requires a string value, while '-nowallet' accepts only '1' to disable all wallets",
+                    extra_args=[f'-nowallet={value}'],
+                )
 
     def test_log_buffer(self):
         self.stop_node(0)
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_settings.py b/test/functional/feature_settings.py
index 2189eac7dde..a7294944bf5 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_settings.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_settings.py
@@ -13,11 +13,32 @@ from test_framework.util import assert_equal
 
 
 class SettingsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
+    def add_options(self, parser):
+        self.add_wallet_options(parser)
+
     def set_test_params(self):
         self.setup_clean_chain = True
         self.num_nodes = 1
         self.wallet_names = []
 
+    def test_wallet_settings(self, settings_path):
+        if not self.is_wallet_compiled():
+            return
+
+        self.log.info("Testing wallet settings..")
+        node = self.nodes[0]
+        # Create wallet to use it during tests
+        self.start_node(0)
+        node.createwallet(wallet_name='w1')
+        self.stop_node(0)
+
+        # Verify wallet settings can only be strings. Either names or paths. Not booleans, nums nor anything else.
+        for wallets_data in [[10], [True], [[]], [{}], ["w1", 10], ["w1", False]]:
+            with settings_path.open("w") as fp:
+                json.dump({"wallet": wallets_data}, fp)
+            node.assert_start_raises_init_error(expected_msg="Error: Invalid value detected for '-wallet' or '-nowallet'. '-wallet' requires a string value, while '-nowallet' accepts only '1' to disable all wallets",
+                                                extra_args=[f'-settings={settings_path}'])
+
     def run_test(self):
         node, = self.nodes
         settings = node.chain_path / "settings.json"
@@ -86,6 +107,8 @@ class SettingsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
             self.start_node(0, extra_args=[f"-settings={altsettings}"])
             self.stop_node(0)
 
+        self.test_wallet_settings(settings)
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     SettingsTest(__file__).main()