diff --git a/src/db/db/dbSaveLayoutOptions.cc b/src/db/db/dbSaveLayoutOptions.cc
index 77c7663a3..355ed11c8 100644
--- a/src/db/db/dbSaveLayoutOptions.cc
+++ b/src/db/db/dbSaveLayoutOptions.cc
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include "tlClassRegistry.h"
 #include "tlStream.h"
 #include "tlExpression.h"
+#include "tlInternational.h"
 
 namespace db
 {
@@ -327,7 +328,7 @@ SaveLayoutOptions::get_valid_layers (const db::Layout &layout, std::vector <std:
 }
 
 void 
-SaveLayoutOptions::get_cells (const db::Layout &layout, std::set <db::cell_index_type> &cells, const std::vector <std::pair <unsigned int, db::LayerProperties> > &valid_layers) const
+SaveLayoutOptions::get_cells (const db::Layout &layout, std::set <db::cell_index_type> &cells, const std::vector <std::pair <unsigned int, db::LayerProperties> > &valid_layers, bool require_unique_names) const
 {
   if (m_all_cells) {
 
@@ -408,6 +409,26 @@ SaveLayoutOptions::get_cells (const db::Layout &layout, std::set <db::cell_index
     }
 
   }
+
+  if (require_unique_names) {
+
+    std::map<std::string, unsigned int> use_count;
+    for (std::set <db::cell_index_type>::const_iterator c = cells.begin (); c != cells.end (); ++c) {
+      use_count.insert (std::make_pair (std::string (layout.cell_name (*c)), 0)).first->second += 1;
+    }
+
+    std::vector<std::string> multi;
+    for (std::map<std::string, unsigned int>::const_iterator u = use_count.begin (); u != use_count.end (); ++u) {
+      if (u->second > 1) {
+        multi.push_back (u->first);
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (! multi.empty ()) {
+      throw tl::Exception (tl::to_string (tr ("The following cell name(s) are used for more than one cell - can't write this layout:\n  ")) + tl::join (multi, "\n  "));
+    }
+
+  }
 }
 
 bool 
diff --git a/src/db/db/dbSaveLayoutOptions.h b/src/db/db/dbSaveLayoutOptions.h
index 5dd0a1a80..7c6da0c74 100644
--- a/src/db/db/dbSaveLayoutOptions.h
+++ b/src/db/db/dbSaveLayoutOptions.h
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ public:
    *
    *  It must be given a list of valid layers which is used to determine empty cells if dont_save_empty_cells is true.
    */
-  void get_cells (const db::Layout &layout, std::set <db::cell_index_type> &cells, const std::vector <std::pair <unsigned int, db::LayerProperties> > &valid_layers) const;
+  void get_cells (const db::Layout &layout, std::set <db::cell_index_type> &cells, const std::vector <std::pair <unsigned int, db::LayerProperties> > &valid_layers, bool require_unique_names = true) const;
 
   /**
    *  @brief Sets a layout reader option by name
diff --git a/src/plugins/streamers/gds2/unit_tests/dbGDS2Writer.cc b/src/plugins/streamers/gds2/unit_tests/dbGDS2Writer.cc
index c42911e4d..6565c2cee 100644
--- a/src/plugins/streamers/gds2/unit_tests/dbGDS2Writer.cc
+++ b/src/plugins/streamers/gds2/unit_tests/dbGDS2Writer.cc
@@ -1129,6 +1129,40 @@ TEST(117)
   EXPECT_EQ (pp == poly, true);
 }
 
+//  error on duplicate cell name
+TEST(118)
+{
+  db::Manager m (false);
+  db::Layout layout_org (&m);
+
+  db::cell_index_type cid1 = layout_org.add_cell ("A");
+  db::cell_index_type cid2 = layout_org.add_cell ("B");
+  layout_org.rename_cell (cid2, "A");  //  creates a duplicate cell
+
+  db::LayerProperties lp;
+  lp.layer = 1;
+  lp.datatype = 0;
+  unsigned int lid = layout_org.insert_layer (lp);
+
+  layout_org.cell (cid1).shapes (lid).insert (db::Box (0, 0, 1000, 2000));
+  layout_org.cell (cid2).shapes (lid).insert (db::Box (0, 0, 1000, 2000));
+
+  std::string tmp_file = tl::TestBase::tmp_file ("tmp_GDS2Writer_117.gds");
+
+  bool error = false;
+  try {
+    tl::OutputStream stream (tmp_file);
+    db::SaveLayoutOptions options;
+    db::Writer writer (options);
+    writer.write (layout_org, stream);
+  } catch (tl::Exception &ex) {
+    tl::warn << ex.msg ();
+    error = true;
+  }
+
+  EXPECT_EQ (error, true);
+}
+
 //  Extreme fracturing by max. points
 TEST(120)
 {
@@ -1153,3 +1187,4 @@ TEST(166)
   opt.max_vertex_count = 4;
   run_test (_this, "t166.oas.gz", "t166_au.gds.gz", false, opt);
 }
+