diff --git a/.changelog/5340.fixed b/.changelog/5340.fixed
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..eb1ba3b8a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/5340.fixed
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+`opentelemetry-sdk`: raise `ValueError` when `ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation` boundaries are not strictly increasing or finite
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/aggregation.py b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/aggregation.py
index dea213f428..9c12e1a3cd 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/aggregation.py
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/aggregation.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from enum import IntEnum
 from functools import partial
 from logging import getLogger
-from math import inf
+from math import inf, isnan
 from threading import Lock
 from typing import (
     Generic,
@@ -464,6 +464,12 @@ def __init__(
             boundaries = (
                 _DEFAULT_EXPLICIT_BUCKET_HISTOGRAM_AGGREGATION_BOUNDARIES
             )
+        if boundaries:
+            for i, x in enumerate(boundaries):
+                if not math.isfinite(x):
+                    raise ValueError(f"invalid boundary: {x!r}")
+                if i and boundaries[i - 1] >= x:
+                    raise ValueError("boundaries must be strictly increasing")
         super().__init__(
             attributes,
             reservoir_builder=partial(
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/tests/metrics/test_aggregation.py b/opentelemetry-sdk/tests/metrics/test_aggregation.py
index 1f11393cee..12a42b3177 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/tests/metrics/test_aggregation.py
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/tests/metrics/test_aggregation.py
@@ -477,6 +477,66 @@ def test_create_aggregation_on_instrument_without_boundaries(self):
         )
         self.assertIsInstance(result, _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation)
 
+    def test_unsorted_boundaries_raise(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation(
+                Mock(),
+                AggregationTemporality.DELTA,
+                0,
+                _default_reservoir_factory(
+                    _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation
+                ),
+                boundaries=[100, 10, 50],
+            )
+
+    def test_duplicate_boundaries_raise(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation(
+                Mock(),
+                AggregationTemporality.DELTA,
+                0,
+                _default_reservoir_factory(
+                    _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation
+                ),
+                boundaries=[10, 50, 50, 100],
+            )
+
+    def test_nan_boundary_raises(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation(
+                Mock(),
+                AggregationTemporality.DELTA,
+                0,
+                _default_reservoir_factory(
+                    _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation
+                ),
+                boundaries=[10, float("nan"), 100],
+            )
+
+    def test_inf_boundary_raises(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation(
+                Mock(),
+                AggregationTemporality.DELTA,
+                0,
+                _default_reservoir_factory(
+                    _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation
+                ),
+                boundaries=[10, 50, float("inf")],
+            )
+
+    def test_negative_inf_boundary_raises(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation(
+                Mock(),
+                AggregationTemporality.DELTA,
+                0,
+                _default_reservoir_factory(
+                    _ExplicitBucketHistogramAggregation
+                ),
+                boundaries=[float("-inf"), 50, 100],
+            )
+
 
 class TestAggregationFactory(TestCase):
     def test_sum_factory(self):