diff --git a/src/redis.c b/src/redis.c
index c1b269596..eb8bfbc65 100644
--- a/src/redis.c
+++ b/src/redis.c
@@ -3576,6 +3576,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
             }
             j++;
         }
+        if (server.sentinel_mode && configfile && *configfile == '-') {
+            redisLog(REDIS_WARNING,
+                "Sentinel config from STDIN not allowed.");
+            redisLog(REDIS_WARNING,
+                "Sentinel needs config file on disk to save state.  Exiting...");
+            exit(1);
+        }
         if (configfile) server.configfile = getAbsolutePath(configfile);
         resetServerSaveParams();
         loadServerConfig(configfile,options);