diff --git a/bin/compose-core b/bin/compose-core
index d9ab164..101c737 100755
--- a/bin/compose-core
+++ b/bin/compose-core
@@ -4289,6 +4289,12 @@ get_healthy_container_ip_for_service () {
         return 1
     fi
 
+    if [ "$(echo "$containers" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
+        err "More than 1 container running for service $DARKYELLOW$SERVICE_NAME$NORMAL."
+        echo "  Please contact administrator to fix this issue." >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+
     ## XXXvlab: taking first container is probably not a good idea
     container="$(echo "$containers" | head -n 1)"