diff --git a/core/configs/src/server_config/cluster.rs b/core/configs/src/server_config/cluster.rs
index bf0c2cf0f6..754f596cfd 100644
--- a/core/configs/src/server_config/cluster.rs
+++ b/core/configs/src/server_config/cluster.rs
@@ -72,6 +72,12 @@ const MAX_VIEW_PROBE_ATTEMPTS: u32 = 100;
 /// static-asserts it equal to `shard::REPAIR_CHUNK_MAX`.
 pub const DEFAULT_REPAIR_CHUNK_MAX: usize = 128;
 
+/// Maximum number of replicas supported by the VSR implementation.
+///
+/// Duplicated here so `core/configs` does not depend on `core/consensus`;
+/// `core/server` pins the values together at compile time.
+pub const MAX_CLUSTER_REPLICAS: usize = 32;
+
 /// `size_of::<StateChunkHeader>()`. Duplicated here for the same reason as
 /// [`DEFAULT_REPAIR_CHUNK_MAX`]; `core/server`'s bootstrap static-asserts it
 /// against the real header. Used to reject a `[message_bus] max_message_size`
@@ -1227,6 +1233,14 @@ impl Validatable<ConfigurationError> for ClusterConfig {
             return Err(ConfigurationError::InvalidConfigurationValue);
         }
 
+        if self.nodes.len() > MAX_CLUSTER_REPLICAS {
+            eprintln!(
+                "Invalid cluster configuration: cluster.nodes contains {} replicas, but the VSR implementation supports at most {MAX_CLUSTER_REPLICAS}",
+                self.nodes.len()
+            );
+            return Err(ConfigurationError::InvalidConfigurationValue);
+        }
+
         // VSR needs every replica to have a stable, unique id strictly
         // less than the total replica count. Duplicate ids would split the
         // cluster into two replicas claiming the same slot; out-of-range
@@ -2467,6 +2481,18 @@ mod cluster_validate_tests {
         assert!(c.validate().is_ok());
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn validate_accepts_the_vsr_replica_limit() {
+        let nodes = (0..32).map(|id| node(&format!("n{id}"), id)).collect();
+        assert!(cfg(nodes).validate().is_ok());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn validate_rejects_rosters_above_the_vsr_replica_limit() {
+        let nodes = (0..33).map(|id| node(&format!("n{id}"), id)).collect();
+        assert!(cfg(nodes).validate().is_err());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn validate_skips_checks_when_disabled() {
         let mut c = cfg(vec![]);
diff --git a/core/server/config.toml b/core/server/config.toml
index d199b5263b..ac9dfb700f 100644
--- a/core/server/config.toml
+++ b/core/server/config.toml
@@ -686,6 +686,8 @@ skip_shard_zero_for_clients = false
 # node's identity is resolved at launch from the '--replica-id <N>' CLI
 # flag, which selects the entry in this list that describes the current
 # node. All other entries are remote peers.
+# VSR currently supports at most 32 nodes in this roster; larger rosters
+# are rejected during server startup.
 #
 # 'ip' is the node's roster address. Replica-to-replica traffic and
 # follower-to-primary HTTP forwarding use it. It is not the bind interface for
diff --git a/core/server/src/boot/recovery.rs b/core/server/src/boot/recovery.rs
index 2ee202658e..11a4d37cee 100644
--- a/core/server/src/boot/recovery.rs
+++ b/core/server/src/boot/recovery.rs
@@ -485,6 +485,7 @@ const _: () = assert!(
 );
 const _: () =
     assert!(configs::cluster::DEFAULT_VIEW_PROBE_ATTEMPTS_MAX == consensus::PROBE_ATTEMPTS_MAX);
+const _: () = assert!(configs::cluster::MAX_CLUSTER_REPLICAS == consensus::REPLICAS_MAX);
 const _: () =
     assert!(configs::partition::DEFAULT_EVICTED_RING_CAPACITY == partitions::EVICTED_RING_CAPACITY);
 const _: () = assert!(