diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f1ee744..1822f88 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
 * Support added for config env variable expansion on nested levels, not just
   top-level provider/processor keys
 * _ChunkedValue ASCII validation added, SPF & TXT
+* Minor validation improvement to catch cases where Record values is provided a
+  single a-single-value by accident instead of a list, a common type-o that
+  can results in each character being a value in the resulting Record data
 
 ## v1.4.0 - 2023-12-04 - Minor Meta
 
diff --git a/octodns/record/base.py b/octodns/record/base.py
index 443e7ba..44c1941 100644
--- a/octodns/record/base.py
+++ b/octodns/record/base.py
@@ -277,7 +277,14 @@ class ValuesMixin(object):
     def validate(cls, name, fqdn, data):
         reasons = super().validate(name, fqdn, data)
 
-        values = data.get('values', data.get('value', []))
+        try:
+            values = data['values']
+            if isinstance(values, str):
+                reasons.append(
+                    f'single value provided under values key, "{values}"'
+                )
+        except KeyError:
+            values = data.get('value', [])
 
         reasons.extend(cls._value_type.validate(values, cls._type))
 
diff --git a/tests/test_octodns_record.py b/tests/test_octodns_record.py
index c85341f..8ae5238 100644
--- a/tests/test_octodns_record.py
+++ b/tests/test_octodns_record.py
@@ -683,6 +683,43 @@ class TestRecordValidation(TestCase):
             lenient=True,
         )
 
+    def test_values_is_single_value(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(ValidationError) as ctx:
+            Record.new(
+                self.zone,
+                'thing',
+                {'type': 'TXT', 'ttl': 42, 'values': 'just one'},
+            )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            ['single value provided under values key, "just one"'],
+            ctx.exception.reasons,
+        )
+
+        # same thing is fine as `value`
+        txt = Record.new(
+            self.zone, 'thing', {'type': 'TXT', 'ttl': 42, 'value': 'just one'}
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(1, len(txt.values))
+        self.assertEqual('just one', txt.values[0])
+
+        # same thing is fine when a list
+        txt = Record.new(
+            self.zone,
+            'thing',
+            {'type': 'TXT', 'ttl': 42, 'values': ['just one']},
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(1, len(txt.values))
+        self.assertEqual('just one', txt.values[0])
+
+        # or tuple
+        txt = Record.new(
+            self.zone,
+            'thing',
+            {'type': 'TXT', 'ttl': 42, 'values': ('just one',)},
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(1, len(txt.values))
+        self.assertEqual('just one', txt.values[0])
+
     def test_validation_context(self):
         # fails validation, no context
         with self.assertRaises(ValidationError) as ctx: