diff --git a/packages/components/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/components/CHANGELOG.md
index db1778ee625b18..6adec34a18b786 100644
--- a/packages/components/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/components/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Internal
+
+-   `BoxControl`: Add runtime check for presets and presetKey ([#68385](https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/68385)).
+
 ## 29.2.0 (2025-01-15)
 
 ### Internal
diff --git a/packages/components/src/box-control/index.tsx b/packages/components/src/box-control/index.tsx
index d4d4b03f893036..c5bf28a13de3ad 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/box-control/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/components/src/box-control/index.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import { useInstanceId } from '@wordpress/compose';
 import { useState } from '@wordpress/element';
 import { __ } from '@wordpress/i18n';
+import warning from '@wordpress/warning';
 
 /**
  * Internal dependencies
@@ -166,6 +167,14 @@ function BoxControl( {
 	} );
 	const sidesToRender = getAllowedSides( sides );
 
+	if ( ( presets && ! presetKey ) || ( ! presets && presetKey ) ) {
+		const definedProp = presets ? 'presets' : 'presetKey';
+		const missingProp = presets ? 'presetKey' : 'presets';
+		warning(
+			`wp.components.BoxControl: the '${ missingProp }' prop is required when the '${ definedProp }' prop is defined.`
+		);
+	}
+
 	return (
 		<Grid
 			id={ id }
diff --git a/packages/components/src/box-control/test/index.tsx b/packages/components/src/box-control/test/index.tsx
index 185a18b258951f..a7d17b0289e92c 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/box-control/test/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/components/src/box-control/test/index.tsx
@@ -15,8 +15,15 @@ import { useState } from '@wordpress/element';
 import BoxControl from '..';
 import type { BoxControlProps, BoxControlValue } from '../types';
 
+// Since `BoxControlProps` is a the result of type unions, we need to use
+// a distributive version of the standard `Omit` utility.
+// See https://stackoverflow.com/a/57103940
+type DistributiveOmit< T, K extends keyof any > = T extends any
+	? Omit< T, K >
+	: never;
+
 const ControlledBoxControl = (
-	extraProps: Omit< BoxControlProps, 'onChange' >
+	extraProps: DistributiveOmit< BoxControlProps, 'onChange' >
 ) => {
 	const [ state, setState ] = useState< BoxControlValue >();
 
@@ -33,7 +40,7 @@ const ControlledBoxControl = (
 const UncontrolledBoxControl = ( {
 	onChange = () => {},
 	...props
-}: Omit< BoxControlProps, 'onChange' > & {
+}: DistributiveOmit< BoxControlProps, 'onChange' > & {
 	onChange?: BoxControlProps[ 'onChange' ];
 } ) => <BoxControl __next40pxDefaultSize onChange={ onChange } { ...props } />;
 
diff --git a/packages/components/src/box-control/types.ts b/packages/components/src/box-control/types.ts
index 43629e09258a58..8c763f6ccb4d7c 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/box-control/types.ts
+++ b/packages/components/src/box-control/types.ts
@@ -100,17 +100,32 @@ export type BoxControlProps = Pick< UnitControlProps, 'units' > &
 		 * @default false
 		 */
 		__next40pxDefaultSize?: boolean;
-		/**
-		 * Available presets to pick from.
-		 */
-		presets?: Preset[];
-		/**
-		 * The key of the preset to apply.
-		 * If you provide a list of presets, you must provide a preset key to use.
-		 * The format of preset selected values is going to be `var:preset|${ presetKey }|${ presetSlug }`
-		 */
-		presetKey?: string;
-	};
+	} & (
+		| {
+				/**
+				 * Available presets to pick from.
+				 */
+				presets?: never;
+				/**
+				 * The key of the preset to apply.
+				 * If you provide a list of presets, you must provide a preset key to use.
+				 * The format of preset selected values is going to be `var:preset|${ presetKey }|${ presetSlug }`
+				 */
+				presetKey?: never;
+		  }
+		| {
+				/**
+				 * Available presets to pick from.
+				 */
+				presets: Preset[];
+				/**
+				 * The key of the preset to apply.
+				 * If you provide a list of presets, you must provide a preset key to use.
+				 * The format of preset selected values is going to be `var:preset|${ presetKey }|${ presetSlug }`
+				 */
+				presetKey: string;
+		  }
+	);
 
 export type BoxControlInputControlProps = UnitControlPassthroughProps & {
 	onChange?: ( nextValues: BoxControlValue ) => void;