diff --git a/client/src/components/Form/Elements/FormData/FormData.test.js b/client/src/components/Form/Elements/FormData/FormData.test.js
index bcff5d7e5589..709f2910a791 100644
--- a/client/src/components/Form/Elements/FormData/FormData.test.js
+++ b/client/src/components/Form/Elements/FormData/FormData.test.js
@@ -372,6 +372,54 @@ describe("FormData", () => {
         });
     });
 
+    it("rejects hda on collection input", async () => {
+        const wrapper = createTarget({
+            value: null,
+            options: defaultOptions,
+            type: "data_collection",
+        });
+        eventStore.setDragData({ id: "whatever", history_content_type: "dataset" });
+        dispatchEvent(wrapper, "dragenter");
+        dispatchEvent(wrapper, "drop");
+        expect(wrapper.emitted().alert[0][0]).toEqual("dataset is not a valid input for dataset collection parameter.");
+    });
+
+    it("rejects paired collection on list collection input", async () => {
+        const wrapper = createTarget({
+            value: null,
+            options: defaultOptions,
+            type: "data_collection",
+            collectionTypes: ["list"],
+        });
+        eventStore.setDragData({
+            id: "whatever",
+            history_content_type: "dataset_collection",
+            collection_type: "paired",
+        });
+        dispatchEvent(wrapper, "dragenter");
+        dispatchEvent(wrapper, "drop");
+        expect(wrapper.emitted().alert[0][0]).toEqual(
+            "paired dataset collection is not a valid input for list type dataset collection parameter."
+        );
+    });
+
+    it("accepts list:list collection on list collection input", async () => {
+        const wrapper = createTarget({
+            value: null,
+            options: defaultOptions,
+            type: "data_collection",
+            collectionTypes: ["list"],
+        });
+        eventStore.setDragData({
+            id: "whatever",
+            history_content_type: "dataset_collection",
+            collection_type: "list:list",
+        });
+        dispatchEvent(wrapper, "dragenter");
+        dispatchEvent(wrapper, "drop");
+        expect(wrapper.emitted().alert[0][0]).toEqual(undefined);
+    });
+
     it("linked and unlinked batch mode handling", async () => {
         const wrapper = createTarget({
             value: null,
diff --git a/client/src/components/Form/Elements/FormData/FormData.vue b/client/src/components/Form/Elements/FormData/FormData.vue
index b5f71c8cb2d1..f6054f28cd00 100644
--- a/client/src/components/Form/Elements/FormData/FormData.vue
+++ b/client/src/components/Form/Elements/FormData/FormData.vue
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ const props = withDefaults(
             values: Array<DataOption>;
         };
         extensions?: Array<string>;
-        type?: string;
+        type?: "data" | "data_collection";
         collectionTypes?: Array<string>;
         flavor?: string;
         tag?: string;
@@ -310,6 +310,9 @@ function handleIncoming(incoming: Record<string, unknown>, partial = true) {
         if (!canAcceptDatatype(extensions)) {
             return false;
         }
+        if (values.some((v) => !canAcceptSrc(v.history_content_type, v.collection_type))) {
+            return false;
+        }
         if (values.length > 0) {
             const incomingValues: Array<DataOption> = [];
             values.forEach((v) => {
@@ -414,17 +417,67 @@ function canAcceptDatatype(itemDatatypes: string | Array<string>) {
     return true;
 }
 
+function canAcceptSrc(historyContentType: "dataset" | "dataset_collection", collectionType?: string) {
+    if (historyContentType === "dataset") {
+        // HDA can only be fed into data parameters, not collection parameters
+        if (props.type === "data") {
+            return true;
+        } else {
+            $emit("alert", "dataset is not a valid input for dataset collection parameter.");
+            return false;
+        }
+    } else if (historyContentType === "dataset_collection") {
+        if (props.type === "data") {
+            // collection can always be mapped over a data input ... in theory.
+            // One day we should also validate the map over model
+            return true;
+        }
+        if (!collectionType) {
+            // Should always be set if item is dataset collection
+            throw Error("Item is a dataset collection of unknown type.");
+        } else if (!props.collectionTypes) {
+            // if no collection_type is set all collections are valid
+            return true;
+        } else {
+            if (props.collectionTypes.includes(collectionType)) {
+                return true;
+            }
+            if (props.collectionTypes.some((element) => collectionType.endsWith(element))) {
+                return true;
+            } else {
+                $emit(
+                    "alert",
+                    `${collectionType} dataset collection is not a valid input for ${orList(
+                        props.collectionTypes
+                    )} type dataset collection parameter.`
+                );
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+    } else {
+        throw Error("Unknown history content type.");
+    }
+}
+
 // Drag/Drop event handlers
 function onDragEnter(evt: MouseEvent) {
     const eventData = eventStore.getDragData();
     if (eventData) {
         const extensions = (eventData.extension as string) || (eventData.elements_datatypes as Array<string>);
+        let highlightingState = "success";
         if (!canAcceptDatatype(extensions)) {
-            currentHighlighting.value = "warning";
+            highlightingState = "warning";
             $emit("alert", `${extensions} is not an acceptable format for this parameter.`);
-        } else {
-            currentHighlighting.value = "success";
+        } else if (
+            !canAcceptSrc(
+                eventData.history_content_type as "dataset" | "dataset_collection",
+                eventData.collection_type as string
+            )
+        ) {
+            highlightingState = "warning";
+            $emit("alert", `${eventData.history_content_type} is not an acceptable input type for this parameter.`);
         }
+        currentHighlighting.value = highlightingState;
         dragTarget.value = evt.target;
         dragData.value = eventData;
     }
@@ -501,12 +554,14 @@ const formatsButtonId = useUid("form-data-formats-");
 
 const warningListAmount = 4;
 const noOptionsWarningMessage = computed(() => {
-    if (!props.extensions || props.extensions.length === 0) {
-        return "No datasets available";
+    const itemType = props.type === "data" ? "datasets" : "dataset collections";
+    const collectionTypeLabel = props.collectionTypes?.length ? `${orList(props.collectionTypes)} ` : "";
+    if (!props.extensions || props.extensions.length === 0 || props.extensions.includes("data")) {
+        return `No ${collectionTypeLabel}${itemType} available`;
     } else if (props.extensions.length <= warningListAmount) {
-        return `No ${orList(props.extensions)} datasets available`;
+        return `No ${collectionTypeLabel}${itemType} with ${orList(props.extensions)} elements available`;
     } else {
-        return "No compatible datasets available";
+        return `No compatible ${collectionTypeLabel}${itemType} available`;
     }
 });
 </script>