diff --git a/rpcs3/Emu/System.cpp b/rpcs3/Emu/System.cpp
index b9a3fdbca6..123c8159d3 100644
--- a/rpcs3/Emu/System.cpp
+++ b/rpcs3/Emu/System.cpp
@@ -1197,9 +1197,19 @@ game_boot_result Emulator::Load(const std::string& title_id, bool add_only, bool
 
 		// Detect boot location
 		constexpr usz game_dir_size = 8; // size of PS3_GAME and PS3_GMXX
-		const std::string hdd0_game    = vfs::get("/dev_hdd0/game/");
-		const std::string hdd0_disc    = vfs::get("/dev_hdd0/disc/");
-		const bool from_hdd0_game      = m_path.find(hdd0_game) != umax;
+		const std::string hdd0_game = vfs::get("/dev_hdd0/game/");
+		const std::string hdd0_disc = vfs::get("/dev_hdd0/disc/");
+		const bool from_hdd0_game   = m_path.starts_with(hdd0_game);
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+		// m_path might be passed from command line with differences in uppercase/lowercase on windows.
+		if (!from_hdd0_game && fmt::to_lower(m_path).starts_with(fmt::to_lower(hdd0_game)))
+		{
+			// Let's just abort to prevent errors down the line.
+			sys_log.error("The boot path seems to contain incorrectly cased characters. Please adjust the path and try again.");
+			return game_boot_result::invalid_file_or_folder;
+		}
+#endif
 
 		// Mount /dev_bdvd/ if necessary
 		if (bdvd_dir.empty() && disc.empty())