diff --git a/src/systems/physics/Physics.cc b/src/systems/physics/Physics.cc
index eafbfe0aed..682d71554a 100644
--- a/src/systems/physics/Physics.cc
+++ b/src/systems/physics/Physics.cc
@@ -2404,6 +2404,14 @@ void PhysicsPrivate::UpdatePhysics(EntityComponentManager &_ecm)
                  << std::endl;
           return true;
         }
+        math::Pose3d worldPoseCmd = _poseCmd->Data();
+        if (!worldPoseCmd.Pos().IsFinite() || !worldPoseCmd.Rot().IsFinite() ||
+            worldPoseCmd.Rot() == math::Quaterniond::Zero)
+        {
+          gzerr << "Unable to set world pose. Invalid pose value: "
+                << worldPoseCmd << std::endl;
+          return true;
+        }
 
         // TODO(addisu) Store the free group instead of searching for it at
         // every iteration
@@ -2423,7 +2431,7 @@ void PhysicsPrivate::UpdatePhysics(EntityComponentManager &_ecm)
         math::Pose3d linkPose =
             this->RelativePose(_entity, linkEntity, _ecm);
 
-        freeGroup->SetWorldPose(math::eigen3::convert(_poseCmd->Data() *
+        freeGroup->SetWorldPose(math::eigen3::convert(worldPoseCmd *
                                 linkPose));
 
         // Process pose commands for static models here, as one-time changes
@@ -2432,7 +2440,7 @@ void PhysicsPrivate::UpdatePhysics(EntityComponentManager &_ecm)
           auto worldPoseComp = _ecm.Component<components::Pose>(_entity);
           if (worldPoseComp)
           {
-            auto state = worldPoseComp->SetData(_poseCmd->Data(),
+            auto state = worldPoseComp->SetData(worldPoseCmd,
                 this->pose3Eql) ?
                 ComponentState::OneTimeChange :
                 ComponentState::NoChange;