diff --git a/mlair/run_modules/experiment_setup.py b/mlair/run_modules/experiment_setup.py
index 524d29b8cc5adda337cf80866071c1697253300f..aca5f583bff181281aee9104df6750da61ad4f93 100644
--- a/mlair/run_modules/experiment_setup.py
+++ b/mlair/run_modules/experiment_setup.py
@@ -389,6 +389,10 @@ class ExperimentSetup(RunEnvironment):
         self._set_param("neighbors", ["DEBW030"])  # TODO: just for testing
 
         # set competitors
+        if model_display_name is not None and model_display_name in competitors:
+            raise IndexError(f"Given model_display_name {model_display_name} is also present in the competitors "
+                             f"variable {competitors}. To assure a proper workflow it is required to have unique names "
+                             f"for each model and competitor. Please use a different model display name or competitor.")
         self._set_param("competitors", competitors, default=[])
         competitor_path_default = os.path.join(self.data_store.get("data_path"), "competitors",
                                                "_".join(self.data_store.get("target_var")))