diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 0eab137d09..3b4926b206 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # ggplot2 (development version)
 
+* Date(time) scales now throw appropriate errors when `date_breaks`, 
+  `date_minor_breaks` or `date_labels` are not strings (@RodDalBen, #5880)
 * `geom_errorbarh()` is deprecated in favour of 
   `geom_errorbar(orientation = "y")` (@teunbrand, #5961).
 * `geom_contour()` should be able to recognise a rotated grid of points 
diff --git a/R/scale-date.R b/R/scale-date.R
index 36f8b37d83..0decaa4174 100644
--- a/R/scale-date.R
+++ b/R/scale-date.R
@@ -303,12 +303,15 @@ datetime_scale <- function(aesthetics, transform, trans = deprecated(),
   if (is.character(minor_breaks)) minor_breaks <- breaks_width(minor_breaks)
 
   if (!is.waive(date_breaks)) {
+    check_string(date_breaks)
     breaks <- breaks_width(date_breaks)
   }
   if (!is.waive(date_minor_breaks)) {
+    check_string(date_minor_breaks)
     minor_breaks <- breaks_width(date_minor_breaks)
   }
   if (!is.waive(date_labels)) {
+    check_string(date_labels)
     labels <- function(self, x) {
       tz <- self$timezone %||% "UTC"
       label_date(date_labels, tz)(x)
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/scale-date.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/scale-date.md
index a2c1e51e73..da37c01413 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/scale-date.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/scale-date.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# date(time) scales throw warnings when input is numeric
+# date(time) scales throw warnings when input is incorrect
 
     A <numeric> value was passed to a Date scale.
     i The value was converted to a <Date> object.
@@ -8,3 +8,27 @@
     A <numeric> value was passed to a Datetime scale.
     i The value was converted to a <POSIXt> object.
 
+---
+
+    Code
+      ggplot_build(p + scale_x_date(date_breaks = c(11, 12)))
+    Condition
+      Error in `datetime_scale()`:
+      ! `date_breaks` must be a single string, not a double vector.
+
+---
+
+    Code
+      ggplot_build(p + scale_x_date(date_minor_breaks = c(11, 12)))
+    Condition
+      Error in `datetime_scale()`:
+      ! `date_minor_breaks` must be a single string, not a double vector.
+
+---
+
+    Code
+      ggplot_build(p + scale_x_date(date_labels = c(11, 12)))
+    Condition
+      Error in `datetime_scale()`:
+      ! `date_labels` must be a single string, not a double vector.
+
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-scale-date.R b/tests/testthat/test-scale-date.R
index 33356545af..a90d203eba 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-scale-date.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-scale-date.R
@@ -69,9 +69,24 @@ test_that("datetime colour scales work", {
   expect_equal(range(get_layer_data(p)$colour), c("#132B43", "#56B1F7"))
 })
 
-test_that("date(time) scales throw warnings when input is numeric", {
+test_that("date(time) scales throw warnings when input is incorrect", {
   p <- ggplot(data.frame(x = 1, y = 1), aes(x, y)) + geom_point()
 
   expect_snapshot_warning(ggplot_build(p + scale_x_date()))
   expect_snapshot_warning(ggplot_build(p + scale_x_datetime()))
+
+  expect_snapshot(
+    ggplot_build(p + scale_x_date(date_breaks = c(11, 12))),
+    error = TRUE
+  )
+
+  expect_snapshot(
+    ggplot_build(p + scale_x_date(date_minor_breaks = c(11, 12))),
+    error = TRUE
+  )
+
+  expect_snapshot(
+    ggplot_build(p + scale_x_date(date_labels = c(11, 12))),
+    error = TRUE
+  )
 })