diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 67bc90bb..50f7dd6c 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -955,6 +955,12 @@ func parseProxies(cfg *RawConfig) (proxies map[string]C.Proxy, providersMap map[
 		)
 		proxies["GLOBAL"] = adapter.NewProxy(global)
 	}
+
+	// validate dialer-proxy references
+	if err := validateDialerProxies(proxies); err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
 	return proxies, providersMap, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/config/utils.go b/config/utils.go
index 3e7f3252..7b413847 100644
--- a/config/utils.go
+++ b/config/utils.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/metacubex/mihomo/adapter/outboundgroup"
 	"github.com/metacubex/mihomo/common/structure"
+	C "github.com/metacubex/mihomo/constant"
 )
 
 // Check if ProxyGroups form DAG(Directed Acyclic Graph), and sort all ProxyGroups by dependency order.
@@ -143,6 +144,64 @@ func proxyGroupsDagSort(groupsConfig []map[string]any) error {
 	return fmt.Errorf("loop is detected in ProxyGroup, please check following ProxyGroups: %v", loopElements)
 }
 
+// validateDialerProxies checks if all dialer-proxy references are valid
+func validateDialerProxies(proxies map[string]C.Proxy) error {
+	graph := make(map[string]string) // proxy name -> dialer-proxy name
+
+	// collect all proxies with dialer-proxy configured
+	for name, proxy := range proxies {
+		dialerProxy := proxy.ProxyInfo().DialerProxy
+		if dialerProxy != "" {
+			// validate each dialer-proxy reference
+			_, exist := proxies[dialerProxy]
+			if !exist {
+				return fmt.Errorf("proxy [%s] dialer-proxy [%s] not found", name, dialerProxy)
+			}
+
+			// build dependency graph
+			graph[name] = dialerProxy
+		}
+	}
+
+	// perform depth-first search to detect cycles for each proxy
+	for name := range graph {
+		visited := make(map[string]bool, len(graph))
+		path := make([]string, 0, len(graph))
+		if validateDialerProxiesHasCycle(name, graph, visited, path) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("proxy [%s] has circular dialer-proxy dependency", name)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// validateDialerProxiesHasCycle performs DFS to detect if there's a cycle starting from current proxy
+func validateDialerProxiesHasCycle(current string, graph map[string]string, visited map[string]bool, path []string) bool {
+	// check if current is already in path (cycle detected)
+	for _, p := range path {
+		if p == current {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	// already visited and no cycle
+	if visited[current] {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	visited[current] = true
+	path = append(path, current)
+
+	// check dialer-proxy of current proxy
+	if dialerProxy, exists := graph[current]; exists {
+		if validateDialerProxiesHasCycle(dialerProxy, graph, visited, path) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
 func verifyIP6() bool {
 	if skip, _ := strconv.ParseBool(os.Getenv("SKIP_SYSTEM_IPV6_CHECK")); skip {
 		return true
diff --git a/config/utils_test.go b/config/utils_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..542c2330
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/utils_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+package config
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestValidateDialerProxies(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		testName    string
+		proxy       []map[string]any
+		errContains string
+	}{
+		{
+			testName: "ValidReference",
+			proxy: []map[string]any{ // create proxy with valid dialer-proxy reference
+				{"name": "base-proxy", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1080},
+				{"name": "proxy-with-dialer", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1081, "dialer-proxy": "base-proxy"},
+			},
+			errContains: "",
+		},
+		{
+			testName: "NotFoundReference",
+			proxy: []map[string]any{ // create proxy with non-existent dialer-proxy reference
+				{"name": "proxy-with-dialer", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1081, "dialer-proxy": "non-existent-proxy"},
+			},
+			errContains: "not found",
+		},
+		{
+			testName: "CircularDependency",
+			proxy: []map[string]any{
+				// create proxy A that references B
+				{"name": "proxy-a", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1080, "dialer-proxy": "proxy-c"},
+				// create proxy B that references C
+				{"name": "proxy-b", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1081, "dialer-proxy": "proxy-a"},
+				// create proxy C that references A (creates cycle)
+				{"name": "proxy-c", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1082, "dialer-proxy": "proxy-a"},
+			},
+			errContains: "circular",
+		},
+		{
+			testName: "ComplexChain",
+			proxy: []map[string]any{ // create a valid chain: proxy-d -> proxy-c -> proxy-b -> proxy-a
+				{"name": "proxy-a", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1080},
+				{"name": "proxy-b", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1081, "dialer-proxy": "proxy-a"},
+				{"name": "proxy-c", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1082, "dialer-proxy": "proxy-b"},
+				{"name": "proxy-d", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1083, "dialer-proxy": "proxy-c"},
+			},
+			errContains: "",
+		},
+		{
+			testName: "EmptyDialerProxy",
+			proxy: []map[string]any{ // create proxy without dialer-proxy
+				{"name": "simple-proxy", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1080},
+			},
+			errContains: "",
+		},
+		{
+			testName: "SelfReference",
+			proxy: []map[string]any{ // create proxy that references itself
+				{"name": "self-proxy", "type": "socks5", "server": "127.0.0.1", "port": 1080, "dialer-proxy": "self-proxy"},
+			},
+			errContains: "circular",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, testCase := range testCases {
+		t.Run(testCase.testName, func(t *testing.T) {
+			config := RawConfig{Proxy: testCase.proxy}
+			_, _, err := parseProxies(&config)
+			if testCase.errContains == "" {
+				assert.NoError(t, err, testCase.testName)
+			} else {
+				assert.ErrorContains(t, err, testCase.errContains, testCase.testName)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}