diff --git a/test/collection/test_target_vectors.py b/test/collection/test_target_vectors.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..07b4ee74e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/collection/test_target_vectors.py
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+from typing import Callable
+
+import pytest
+
+from weaviate.classes.query import HybridVector, NearVector, TargetVectors
+from weaviate.collections.classes.grpc import NearVectorInputType, TargetVectorJoinType
+from weaviate.collections.grpc.query import _QueryGRPC
+from weaviate.exceptions import WeaviateInvalidInputError
+from weaviate.proto.v1 import base_search_pb2
+from weaviate.util import _ServerVersion
+
+
+def _query(version: str) -> _QueryGRPC:
+    weaviate_version = _ServerVersion.from_string(version)
+    return _QueryGRPC(
+        weaviate_version=weaviate_version,
+        name="Documents",
+        tenant=None,
+        consistency_level=None,
+        validate_arguments=True,
+        uses_125_api=weaviate_version.is_at_least(1, 25, 0),
+        uses_127_api=weaviate_version.is_at_least(1, 27, 0),
+    )
+
+
+def _near_vector(
+    version: str, vector: NearVectorInputType, target_vector: TargetVectorJoinType
+) -> base_search_pb2.Targets:
+    request = _query(version).near_vector(near_vector=vector, target_vector=target_vector)
+    return request.near_vector.targets
+
+
+def _hybrid(
+    version: str, vector: NearVectorInputType, target_vector: TargetVectorJoinType
+) -> base_search_pb2.Targets:
+    request = _query(version).hybrid(query="example", vector=vector, target_vector=target_vector)
+    return request.hybrid_search.targets
+
+
+def _hybrid_near_vector(
+    version: str, vector: NearVectorInputType, target_vector: TargetVectorJoinType
+) -> base_search_pb2.Targets:
+    request = _query(version).hybrid(
+        query="example", vector=HybridVector.near_vector(vector), target_vector=target_vector
+    )
+    return request.hybrid_search.targets
+
+
+Search = Callable[[str, NearVectorInputType, TargetVectorJoinType], base_search_pb2.Targets]
+SEARCHES = [_near_vector, _hybrid, _hybrid_near_vector]
+VERSIONS = ["1.26.0", "1.27.0", "1.29.0"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("search", SEARCHES)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("version", VERSIONS)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "target_vector",
+    [["title", "summary"], TargetVectors.manual_weights({"title": 1.0, "summary": 2.0})],
+    ids=["list", "weights"],
+)
+def test_mismatched_vector_names(
+    search: Search, version: str, target_vector: TargetVectorJoinType
+) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(WeaviateInvalidInputError, match="must match the target vectors"):
+        search(version, {"title": [1.0, 0.0], "body": [0.0, 1.0]}, target_vector)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("search", SEARCHES)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("version", VERSIONS)
+def test_vector_names_in_a_different_order(search: Search, version: str) -> None:
+    targets = search(
+        version,
+        {"summary": [0.0, 1.0], "title": [1.0, 0.0]},
+        TargetVectors.manual_weights({"title": 1.0, "summary": 2.0}),
+    )
+    weights = {weight.target: weight.weight for weight in targets.weights_for_targets}
+    assert weights == {"title": 1.0, "summary": 2.0}
+    if version != "1.26.0":
+        assert list(targets.target_vectors) == ["summary", "title"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("search", SEARCHES)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("version", ["1.27.0", "1.29.0"])
+def test_repeated_target_vector_names_with_multiple_weights(search: Search, version: str) -> None:
+    targets = search(
+        version,
+        {"title": NearVector.list_of_vectors([1.0, 0.0], [0.0, 1.0])},
+        TargetVectors.manual_weights({"title": [1.0, 2.0]}),
+    )
+    assert list(targets.target_vectors) == ["title", "title"]
+    assert [(weight.target, weight.weight) for weight in targets.weights_for_targets] == [
+        ("title", 1.0),
+        ("title", 2.0),
+    ]
diff --git a/weaviate/collections/grpc/shared.py b/weaviate/collections/grpc/shared.py
index 3b39a611b..dcfa31fb7 100644
--- a/weaviate/collections/grpc/shared.py
+++ b/weaviate/collections/grpc/shared.py
@@ -124,6 +124,16 @@ def _recompute_target_vector_to_grpc(
             target_vector = target_vectors_tmp
         return self.__target_vector_to_grpc(target_vector)
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def __check_vector_keys(
+        vector: Dict[str, Any], targets: base_search_pb2.Targets, argument_name: str
+    ) -> None:
+        target_names = set(targets.target_vectors)
+        if target_names != vector.keys():
+            raise WeaviateInvalidInputError(
+                f"The {argument_name} keys {sorted(vector.keys())} must match the target vectors {sorted(target_names)}"
+            )
+
     def __target_vector_to_grpc(
         self, target_vector: Optional[TargetVectorJoinType]
     ) -> Tuple[Optional[base_search_pb2.Targets], Optional[List[str]]]:
@@ -155,6 +165,7 @@ def _vector_per_target(
                 raise WeaviateInvalidInputError(
                     "The number of target vectors must be equal to the number of vectors."
                 )
+            self.__check_vector_keys(vector, targets, argument_name)
 
             vector_per_target: Dict[str, bytes] = {}
             for key, value in vector.items():
@@ -292,12 +303,9 @@ def add_list_of_vectors(value: _ListOfVectorsQuery, key: str) -> None:
             target_vectors.append(key)
 
         if isinstance(vector, dict):
-            if (
-                len(vector) == 0
-                or targets is None
-                or len(set(targets.target_vectors)) != len(vector)
-            ):
+            if len(vector) == 0 or targets is None:
                 raise invalid_nv_exception
+            self.__check_vector_keys(vector, targets, argument_name)
             for key, value in vector.items():
                 if _is_1d_vector(value):
                     add_1d_vector(value, key)