diff --git a/esphome/config_validation.py b/esphome/config_validation.py
index ef250927f3..a62c8f2675 100644
--- a/esphome/config_validation.py
+++ b/esphome/config_validation.py
@@ -2723,6 +2723,9 @@ def rename_key(
 ):
     """Rename a config key from ``old_key`` to ``new_key``.
 
+    Specifying both keys is an error; otherwise only one of the two would
+    survive the rename and the other would be dropped silently.
+
     When ``removed_in`` is set, a deprecation warning is logged if the old key is
     present. Pass ``component`` (the platform/component name) alongside
     ``removed_in`` so the warning identifies where it originates.
@@ -2731,6 +2734,7 @@ def rename_key(
     def validator(config: dict) -> dict:
         config = config.copy()
         if old_key in config:
+            has_at_most_one_key(old_key, new_key)(config)
             if removed_in is not None:
                 prefix = f"[{component}] " if component else ""
                 _LOGGER.warning(
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/test_config_validation.py b/tests/unit_tests/test_config_validation.py
index 2ad22bc59c..864fbe6475 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/test_config_validation.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/test_config_validation.py
@@ -2956,6 +2956,22 @@ def test_rename_key_removed_in_with_component_prefixes_warning(
     )
 
 
+def test_rename_key_both_keys_rejected() -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(Invalid, match="Cannot specify more than one of"):
+        cv.rename_key("old", "new")({"old": 5, "new": 6})
+
+
+def test_rename_key_both_keys_rejected_with_removed_in(
+    caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture,
+) -> None:
+    with (
+        caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING, logger="esphome.config_validation"),
+        pytest.raises(Invalid, match="Cannot specify more than one of"),
+    ):
+        cv.rename_key("old", "new", removed_in="2026.8.0")({"old": 5, "new": 6})
+    assert not caplog.records
+
+
 def test_file__existing_relative_path(setup_core: Path) -> None:
     (setup_core / "partitions.csv").write_text("csv\n")