diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/go/util_rules/go_bootstrap.py b/src/python/pants/backend/go/util_rules/go_bootstrap.py
index 0d651e169a2..6df516f3db2 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/go/util_rules/go_bootstrap.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/go/util_rules/go_bootstrap.py
@@ -10,10 +10,11 @@
 from pants.backend.go.subsystems.golang import GolangSubsystem
 from pants.core.util_rules import asdf
 from pants.core.util_rules.asdf import AsdfToolPathsRequest, AsdfToolPathsResult
-from pants.core.util_rules.environments import EnvironmentTarget
+from pants.core.util_rules.environments import EnvironmentTarget, LocalEnvironmentTarget
 from pants.engine.env_vars import EnvironmentVars, EnvironmentVarsRequest
 from pants.engine.internals.selectors import Get
 from pants.engine.rules import collect_rules, rule, rule_helper
+from pants.util.strutil import softwrap
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -77,10 +78,47 @@ async def _environment_paths() -> list[str]:
     return []
 
 
+def _error_if_not_compatible_with_asdf(
+    env_tgt: EnvironmentTarget,
+    _search_paths: Iterable[str],
+) -> None:
+    """Raises an exception if any special search path strings any are invalid for the environment.
+
+    If the environment is non-local and there are invalid tokens for those environments, raise
+    `ValueError`.
+    """
+
+    env = env_tgt.val
+
+    if env is None or isinstance(env, LocalEnvironmentTarget):
+        return
+
+    not_allowed = {"<ASDF>", "<ASDF_LOCAL>"}
+
+    any_not_allowed = set(_search_paths) & not_allowed
+    if any_not_allowed:
+        env_type = type(env)
+        raise ValueError(
+            softwrap(
+                f"`[python-bootstrap].search_paths` is configured to use local Go discovery "
+                f"tools, which do not work in {env_type.__name__} runtime environments. To fix "
+                f"this, set the value of `golang_go_search_paths` in the `{env.alias}` "
+                f"defined at `{env.address}` to contain only hardcoded paths or the `<PATH>` "
+                "special string."
+            )
+        )
+
+    return
+
+
 @rule
 async def resolve_go_bootstrap(
     golang_subsystem: GolangSubsystem, golang_env_aware: GolangSubsystem.EnvironmentAware
 ) -> GoBootstrap:
+
+    _error_if_not_compatible_with_asdf(
+        golang_env_aware.env_tgt, golang_env_aware.raw_go_search_paths
+    )
     paths = await _go_search_paths(
         golang_env_aware.env_tgt, golang_subsystem, golang_env_aware.raw_go_search_paths
     )