diff --git a/src/shell/command_utils.cpp b/src/shell/command_utils.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..733d01fde4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shell/command_utils.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#include "command_utils.h"
+
+#include "command_executor.h"
+
+bool validate_ip(shell_context *sc,
+                 const std::string &ip_str,
+                 dsn::rpc_address &target_address,
+                 std::string &err_info)
+{
+    if (!target_address.from_string_ipv4(ip_str.c_str())) {
+        err_info = fmt::format("invalid ip:port={}, can't transform it into rpc_address", ip_str);
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    std::map<dsn::rpc_address, dsn::replication::node_status::type> nodes;
+    auto error = sc->ddl_client->list_nodes(dsn::replication::node_status::NS_INVALID, nodes);
+    if (error != dsn::ERR_OK) {
+        err_info = fmt::format("list nodes failed, error={}", error.to_string());
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    for (const auto &node : nodes) {
+        if (target_address == node.first) {
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+
+    err_info = fmt::format("invalid ip:port={}, can't find it in the cluster", ip_str);
+    return false;
+}
diff --git a/src/shell/command_utils.h b/src/shell/command_utils.h
index 2aa480b9f3..1775169d49 100644
--- a/src/shell/command_utils.h
+++ b/src/shell/command_utils.h
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@
 #include "shell/argh.h"
 #include <dsn/dist/fmt_logging.h>
 
+namespace dsn {
+class rpc_address;
+}
+class shell_context;
+
 inline bool validate_cmd(const argh::parser &cmd,
                          const std::set<std::string> &params,
                          const std::set<std::string> &flags)
@@ -42,6 +47,11 @@ inline bool validate_cmd(const argh::parser &cmd,
     return true;
 }
 
+bool validate_ip(shell_context *sc,
+                 const std::string &ip_str,
+                 /*out*/ dsn::rpc_address &target_address,
+                 /*out*/ std::string &err_info);
+
 #define verify_logged(exp, ...)                                                                    \
     do {                                                                                           \
         if (!(exp)) {                                                                              \
diff --git a/src/shell/commands/detect_hotkey.cpp b/src/shell/commands/detect_hotkey.cpp
index 900e70f7cc..d2ffed7417 100644
--- a/src/shell/commands/detect_hotkey.cpp
+++ b/src/shell/commands/detect_hotkey.cpp
@@ -85,13 +85,13 @@ bool detect_hotkey(command_executor *e, shell_context *sc, arguments args)
     }
 
     dsn::rpc_address target_address;
+    std::string err_info;
     std::string ip_str = cmd({"-d", "--address"}).str();
-    if (!target_address.from_string_ipv4(ip_str.c_str())) {
-        fmt::print("invalid ip, error={}\n", ip_str);
+    if (!validate_ip(sc, ip_str, target_address, err_info)) {
+        fmt::print(stderr, "{}\n", err_info);
         return false;
     }
 
-    std::string err_info;
     std::string hotkey_action = cmd({"-c", "--hotkey_action"}).str();
     std::string hotkey_type = cmd({"-t", "--hotkey_type"}).str();
     dsn::replication::detect_hotkey_request req;