diff --git a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/actor_template.go b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/actor_template.go
index adbf44c2e9..bfe6bc4aff 100644
--- a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/actor_template.go
+++ b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/actor_template.go
@@ -273,6 +273,16 @@ func ValidateCustom_Resources_Limits(_ context.Context, _ operation.Operation, f
 	return errs
 }
 
+// ValidateCustom_SnapshotsConfig_StorageLocation ensures an
+// ActorTemplate's snapshotsConfig.location is a well-formed
+// URI with a bucket, so a bad location fails fast.
+func ValidateCustom_SnapshotsConfig_StorageLocation(_ context.Context, _ operation.Operation, fldPath *field.Path, value, _ *string) field.ErrorList {
+	if err := resources.ValidateSnapshotLocation(*value); err != nil {
+		return field.ErrorList{field.Invalid(fldPath, *value, err.Error())}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // ValidateCustom_SnapshotsConfig requires on_commit to be a
 // subset of on_pause. UNSPECIFIED means FULL, so an unset on_commit over a
 // DATA on_pause is rejected too.
diff --git a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/actor_template_test.go b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/actor_template_test.go
index 84d44cd48f..f14873e6b3 100644
--- a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/actor_template_test.go
+++ b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/actor_template_test.go
@@ -136,6 +136,18 @@ func TestValidateCreateActorTemplateRequest(t *testing.T) {
 			tmpl.SnapshotsConfig.StorageLocation = ""
 		})},
 		field.ErrorList{field.Required(field.NewPath("actor_template", "snapshots_config", "storage_location"), "")},
+	}, {
+		"storage_location without a bucket",
+		&ateapipb.CreateActorTemplateRequest{ActorTemplate: validActorTemplate(func(tmpl *ateapipb.ActorTemplate) {
+			tmpl.SnapshotsConfig.StorageLocation = "my-bucket/snapshots"
+		})},
+		field.ErrorList{field.Invalid(field.NewPath("actor_template", "snapshots_config", "storage_location"), "my-bucket/snapshots", "")},
+	}, {
+		"storage_location with a query",
+		&ateapipb.CreateActorTemplateRequest{ActorTemplate: validActorTemplate(func(tmpl *ateapipb.ActorTemplate) {
+			tmpl.SnapshotsConfig.StorageLocation = "gs://my-bucket/snapshots?versions=true"
+		})},
+		field.ErrorList{field.Invalid(field.NewPath("actor_template", "snapshots_config", "storage_location"), "gs://my-bucket/snapshots?versions=true", "")},
 	}, {
 		"on_commit broader than on_pause",
 		&ateapipb.CreateActorTemplateRequest{ActorTemplate: validActorTemplate(func(tmpl *ateapipb.ActorTemplate) {
diff --git a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/zz_generated.validation.go b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/zz_generated.validation.go
index 435446bd8c..ee2d96d51e 100644
--- a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/zz_generated.validation.go
+++ b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/zz_generated.validation.go
@@ -5605,6 +5605,10 @@ func Validate_SnapshotsConfig(
 			if earlyReturn {
 				return // do not proceed
 			}
+			// custom validation
+			if e := ValidateCustom_SnapshotsConfig_StorageLocation(ctx, op, fldPath, obj, oldObj); len(e) != 0 {
+				errs = append(errs, e...)
+			}
 			if e := validate.MaxLength(ctx, op, fldPath, obj, oldObj, 1024); len(e) != 0 {
 				errs = append(errs, e...)
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/proto/ateapipb/ateapi.pb.go b/pkg/proto/ateapipb/ateapi.pb.go
index 4ef399a2ca..989ffdb514 100644
--- a/pkg/proto/ateapipb/ateapi.pb.go
+++ b/pkg/proto/ateapipb/ateapi.pb.go
@@ -2545,8 +2545,8 @@ type SnapshotsConfig struct {
 	// this version are stored under. Required.
 	//
 	// +k8s:required
-	// +k8s:maxLength=1024 # bound only; object-storage URI formats vary
-	// TODO: validate that this is a well-formed object-storage URI
+	// +k8s:maxLength=1024
+	// +k8s:customValidation # Validate URI
 	StorageLocation string `protobuf:"bytes,4,opt,name=storage_location,json=storageLocation,proto3" json:"storage_location,omitempty"`
 	unknownFields   protoimpl.UnknownFields
 	sizeCache       protoimpl.SizeCache
diff --git a/pkg/proto/ateapipb/ateapi.proto b/pkg/proto/ateapipb/ateapi.proto
index ffadb9e7bf..acd5975c79 100644
--- a/pkg/proto/ateapipb/ateapi.proto
+++ b/pkg/proto/ateapipb/ateapi.proto
@@ -852,8 +852,8 @@ message SnapshotsConfig {
   // this version are stored under. Required.
   //
   // +k8s:required
-  // +k8s:maxLength=1024 # bound only; object-storage URI formats vary
-  // TODO: validate that this is a well-formed object-storage URI
+  // +k8s:maxLength=1024
+  // +k8s:customValidation # Validate URI
   string storage_location = 4;
 }