diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 03487ace..0c1f2e55 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -540,6 +540,10 @@ where
 
     match &config.media.backend {
         MediaBackendConfig::Filesystem(x) => {
+            if overlap(&x.path, &config.database.path) {
+                return Err(Error::DatabaseMediaOverlap);
+            }
+
             let media_path = x
                 .path
                 .canonicalize()
@@ -550,11 +554,7 @@ where
                     Error::Canonicalize(e, config.database.path.clone())
                 })?;
 
-            let overlap = media_path == database_path
-                || media_path.starts_with(&database_path)
-                || database_path.starts_with(&media_path);
-
-            if overlap {
+            if overlap(&media_path, &database_path) {
                 return Err(Error::DatabaseMediaOverlap);
             }
         }
@@ -562,3 +562,8 @@ where
 
     Ok(config)
 }
+
+/// Returns `true` if two paths overlap.
+fn overlap(a: &Path, b: &Path) -> bool {
+    a == b || a.starts_with(b) || b.starts_with(a)
+}