diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.test.ts
index 66a5463bf5..16f9d96010 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.test.ts
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
           exclude: undefined,
         },
       },
+      validateLocationsExist: false,
     });
     expect(providerConfigs[1]).toEqual({
       id: 'providerCustomCatalogPath',
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
           exclude: undefined,
         },
       },
+      validateLocationsExist: false,
     });
     expect(providerConfigs[2]).toEqual({
       id: 'providerWithRepositoryFilter',
@@ -129,6 +131,7 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
           exclude: undefined,
         },
       },
+      validateLocationsExist: false,
     });
     expect(providerConfigs[3]).toEqual({
       id: 'providerWithBranchFilter',
@@ -143,6 +146,7 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
           exclude: undefined,
         },
       },
+      validateLocationsExist: false,
     });
     expect(providerConfigs[4]).toEqual({
       id: 'providerWithTopicFilter',
@@ -157,6 +161,7 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
           exclude: ['backstage-exclude'],
         },
       },
+      validateLocationsExist: false,
     });
     expect(providerConfigs[5]).toEqual({
       id: 'providerWithHost',
@@ -171,6 +176,38 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
           exclude: undefined,
         },
       },
+      validateLocationsExist: false,
     });
   });
+
+  it('defaults validateLocationsExist to false', () => {
+    const config = new ConfigReader({
+      catalog: {
+        providers: {
+          github: {
+            organization: 'test-org',
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+    const providerConfigs = readProviderConfigs(config);
+
+    expect(providerConfigs[0].validateLocationsExist).toEqual(false);
+  });
+
+  it('throws an error when a wildcard catalog path is configured with validation of locations', () => {
+    const config = new ConfigReader({
+      catalog: {
+        providers: {
+          github: {
+            organization: 'test-org',
+            validateLocationsExist: true,
+            catalogPath: '/*/catalog-info.yaml',
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(() => readProviderConfigs(config)).toThrow();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.ts
index d40b206751..fd5482d1b6 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ export type GitHubEntityProviderConfig = {
     branch?: string;
     topic?: GithubTopicFilters;
   };
+  validateLocationsExist: boolean;
 };
 
 export type GithubTopicFilters = {
@@ -72,6 +73,16 @@ function readProviderConfig(
   const topicFilterExclude = config?.getOptionalStringArray(
     'filters.topic.exclude',
   );
+  const validateLocationsExist =
+    config?.getOptionalBoolean('validateLocationsExist') ?? false;
+
+  const catalogPathContainsWildcard = catalogPath.includes('*');
+
+  if (validateLocationsExist && catalogPathContainsWildcard) {
+    throw Error(
+      `Error while processing GitHub provider config. The catalog path ${catalogPath} contains a wildcard, which is incompatible with validation of locations existing before emitting them. Ensure that validateLocationsExist is set to false.`,
+    );
+  }
 
   return {
     id,
@@ -88,6 +99,7 @@ function readProviderConfig(
         exclude: topicFilterExclude,
       },
     },
+    validateLocationsExist,
   };
 }
 /**