diff --git a/src/borg/archiver/create_cmd.py b/src/borg/archiver/create_cmd.py
index 741e363c5..d56a700f6 100644
--- a/src/borg/archiver/create_cmd.py
+++ b/src/borg/archiver/create_cmd.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from ..archive import FilesystemObjectProcessors, MetadataCollector, ChunksProce
 from ..cache import Cache
 from ..constants import *  # NOQA
 from ..compress import CompressionSpec
-from ..helpers import ChunkerParams
+from ..helpers import comment_validator, ChunkerParams
 from ..helpers import NameSpec, FilesCacheMode
 from ..helpers import eval_escapes
 from ..helpers import timestamp, archive_ts_now
@@ -811,7 +811,12 @@ class CreateMixIn:
 
         archive_group = subparser.add_argument_group("Archive options")
         archive_group.add_argument(
-            "--comment", dest="comment", metavar="COMMENT", default="", help="add a comment text to the archive"
+            "--comment",
+            metavar="COMMENT",
+            dest="comment",
+            type=comment_validator,
+            default="",
+            help="add a comment text to the archive",
         )
         archive_group.add_argument(
             "--timestamp",
diff --git a/src/borg/archiver/recreate_cmd.py b/src/borg/archiver/recreate_cmd.py
index 40f2d6f26..c4d707e13 100644
--- a/src/borg/archiver/recreate_cmd.py
+++ b/src/borg/archiver/recreate_cmd.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from ._common import build_matcher
 from ..archive import ArchiveRecreater
 from ..constants import *  # NOQA
 from ..compress import CompressionSpec
-from ..helpers import archivename_validator, ChunkerParams
+from ..helpers import archivename_validator, comment_validator, ChunkerParams
 from ..helpers import timestamp
 from ..manifest import Manifest
 
@@ -161,7 +161,12 @@ class RecreateMixIn:
             help="write checkpoint every SECONDS seconds (Default: 1800)",
         )
         archive_group.add_argument(
-            "--comment", dest="comment", metavar="COMMENT", default=None, help="add a comment text to the archive"
+            "--comment",
+            metavar="COMMENT",
+            dest="comment",
+            type=comment_validator,
+            default=None,
+            help="add a comment text to the archive",
         )
         archive_group.add_argument(
             "--timestamp",
diff --git a/src/borg/archiver/tar_cmds.py b/src/borg/archiver/tar_cmds.py
index c08c50b8f..9e9dc5162 100644
--- a/src/borg/archiver/tar_cmds.py
+++ b/src/borg/archiver/tar_cmds.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from ..helpers import dash_open
 from ..helpers import msgpack
 from ..helpers import create_filter_process
 from ..helpers import ChunkIteratorFileWrapper
-from ..helpers import ChunkerParams
+from ..helpers import comment_validator, ChunkerParams
 from ..helpers import NameSpec
 from ..helpers import remove_surrogates
 from ..helpers import timestamp, archive_ts_now
@@ -491,7 +491,12 @@ class TarMixIn:
 
         archive_group = subparser.add_argument_group("Archive options")
         archive_group.add_argument(
-            "--comment", dest="comment", metavar="COMMENT", default="", help="add a comment text to the archive"
+            "--comment",
+            metavar="COMMENT",
+            dest="comment",
+            type=comment_validator,
+            default="",
+            help="add a comment text to the archive",
         )
         archive_group.add_argument(
             "--timestamp",
diff --git a/src/borg/archiver/transfer_cmd.py b/src/borg/archiver/transfer_cmd.py
index bc6718e25..0c26bdf73 100644
--- a/src/borg/archiver/transfer_cmd.py
+++ b/src/borg/archiver/transfer_cmd.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from ..archive import Archive
 from ..constants import *  # NOQA
 from ..crypto.key import uses_same_id_hash, uses_same_chunker_secret
 from ..helpers import EXIT_SUCCESS, EXIT_ERROR, Error
-from ..helpers import location_validator, Location, archivename_validator
+from ..helpers import location_validator, Location, archivename_validator, comment_validator
 from ..helpers import format_file_size
 from ..manifest import Manifest
 
@@ -52,6 +52,19 @@ class TransferMixIn:
                 self.print_error(err_msg)
             return EXIT_ERROR
 
+        ac_errors = []
+        for archive_name in archive_names:
+            archive = Archive(other_manifest, archive_name)
+            try:
+                comment_validator(archive.metadata.get("comment", ""))
+            except argparse.ArgumentTypeError as err:
+                ac_errors.append((archive_name, str(err)))
+        if ac_errors:
+            self.print_error("Invalid archive comments detected, please fix them before transfer:")
+            for archive_name, err_msg in ac_errors:
+                self.print_error(f"{archive_name}: {err_msg}")
+            return EXIT_ERROR
+
         from .. import upgrade as upgrade_mod
 
         try: