diff --git a/mace/cli/run_train.py b/mace/cli/run_train.py
index 866ffeb5..6d9238ed 100644
--- a/mace/cli/run_train.py
+++ b/mace/cli/run_train.py
@@ -9,10 +9,9 @@
 import json
 import logging
 import os
+import urllib.request
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Optional
-import urllib.request
-
 
 import numpy as np
 import torch.distributed
@@ -27,27 +26,28 @@
 from mace.calculators.foundations_models import mace_mp, mace_off
 from mace.cli.fine_tuning_select import select_samples
 from mace.tools import torch_geometric
+from mace.tools.finetuning_utils import (
+    extract_config_mace_model,
+    load_foundations_elements,
+)
 from mace.tools.scripts_utils import (
     LRScheduler,
+    check_folder_subfolder,
     create_error_table,
+    dict_to_array,
     dict_to_namespace,
     get_atomic_energies,
     get_config_type_weights,
     get_dataset_from_xyz,
     get_files_with_suffix,
-    dict_to_array,
-    check_folder_subfolder,
 )
 from mace.tools.slurm_distributed import DistributedEnvironment
-from mace.tools.finetuning_utils import (
-    load_foundations_elements,
-    extract_config_mace_model,
-)
 from mace.tools.utils import AtomicNumberTable
 
 
 def main() -> None:
     args = tools.build_default_arg_parser().parse_args()
+    tools.check_args(args)
     tag = tools.get_tag(name=args.name, seed=args.seed)
 
     if args.device == "xpu":
diff --git a/mace/tools/__init__.py b/mace/tools/__init__.py
index 5f851483..e63f4c41 100644
--- a/mace/tools/__init__.py
+++ b/mace/tools/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
-from .arg_parser import build_default_arg_parser, build_preprocess_arg_parser
+from .arg_parser import (
+    build_default_arg_parser,
+    build_preprocess_arg_parser,
+    check_args,
+)
 from .cg import U_matrix_real
 from .checkpoint import CheckpointHandler, CheckpointIO, CheckpointState
+from .finetuning_utils import extract_load, load_foundations_elements
 from .torch_tools import (
     TensorDict,
     cartesian_to_spherical,
@@ -31,8 +36,6 @@
     setup_logger,
 )
 
-from .finetuning_utils import load_foundations_elements, extract_load
-
 __all__ = [
     "TensorDict",
     "AtomicNumberTable",
@@ -40,6 +43,7 @@
     "to_numpy",
     "to_one_hot",
     "build_default_arg_parser",
+    "check_args",
     "set_seeds",
     "init_device",
     "setup_logger",
diff --git a/mace/tools/arg_parser.py b/mace/tools/arg_parser.py
index abb550e1..5f91897f 100644
--- a/mace/tools/arg_parser.py
+++ b/mace/tools/arg_parser.py
@@ -636,6 +636,12 @@ def build_default_arg_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
             "forces_weight",
         ],
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--force",
+        help="Ignore checks for inconsistency in arguments. Should only be used for testing.",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+    )
     return parser
 
 
@@ -784,3 +790,16 @@ def check_float_or_none(value: str) -> Optional[float]:
                 f"{value} is an invalid value (float or None)"
             ) from None
         return None
+
+
+def __check_e0s_and_finetuning(e0s: str, finetuning: bool) -> None:
+    if e0s == "average" and finetuning:
+        raise ValueError(
+            "Cannot use average E0s with finetuning, please provide E0s for each element."
+        )
+
+
+def check_args(args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
+    if args.force:
+        return
+    __check_e0s_and_finetuning(args.E0s, args.foundation_model is not None)
diff --git a/tests/test_argparser.py b/tests/test_argparser.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..13558c19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_argparser.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import pytest
+
+from mace.tools import build_default_arg_parser, check_args
+
+
+def test_finetuning_with_e0s_average_raises_error():
+    parser = build_default_arg_parser()
+    args = parser.parse_args(
+        [
+            "--name",
+            "_",
+            "--train_file",
+            "_",
+            "--foundation_model",
+            "_",
+            "--E0s",
+            "average",
+        ]
+    )
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        check_args(args)
+
+
+def test_force_flag_skips_check():
+    parser = build_default_arg_parser()
+    args = parser.parse_args(
+        [
+            "--name",
+            "_",
+            "--train_file",
+            "_",
+            "--foundation_model",
+            "_",
+            "--E0s",
+            "average",
+            "--force",
+        ]
+    )
+    check_args(args)
+
+
+def test_finetuning_with_non_average_e0s_does_not_raise_error():
+    parser = build_default_arg_parser()
+    args = parser.parse_args(
+        [
+            "--name",
+            "_",
+            "--train_file",
+            "_",
+            "--foundation_model",
+            "_",
+            "--E0s",
+            "precomputes_e0s.json",
+        ]
+    )
+    check_args(args)