diff --git a/src/MongoDB.Bson/Serialization/BsonClassMap.cs b/src/MongoDB.Bson/Serialization/BsonClassMap.cs
index 87239a33bf5..2781d218d6b 100644
--- a/src/MongoDB.Bson/Serialization/BsonClassMap.cs
+++ b/src/MongoDB.Bson/Serialization/BsonClassMap.cs
@@ -1323,10 +1323,25 @@ internal IDiscriminatorConvention GetDiscriminatorConvention()
             var discriminatorConvention = _discriminatorConvention;
             if (discriminatorConvention == null)
             {
-                // it's possible but harmless for multiple threads to do the discriminator convention lookukp at the same time
+                // it's possible but harmless for multiple threads to do the discriminator convention lookup at the same time
                 discriminatorConvention = LookupDiscriminatorConvention();
                 _discriminatorConvention = discriminatorConvention;
+
+                if (discriminatorConvention != null)
+                {
+                    var conflictingMemberMap = _allMemberMaps.FirstOrDefault(memberMap => memberMap.ElementName == discriminatorConvention.ElementName);
+
+                    if (conflictingMemberMap != null)
+                    {
+                        var fieldOrProperty = conflictingMemberMap.MemberInfo is FieldInfo ? "field" : "property";
+
+                        throw new BsonSerializationException(
+                            $"The discriminator element name cannot be {discriminatorConvention.ElementName} " +
+                            $"because it is already being used by the {fieldOrProperty} {conflictingMemberMap.MemberName} of type {_classType.FullName}");
+                    }
+                }
             }
+
             return discriminatorConvention;
 
             IDiscriminatorConvention LookupDiscriminatorConvention()
diff --git a/src/MongoDB.Bson/Serialization/Conventions/StandardDiscriminatorConvention.cs b/src/MongoDB.Bson/Serialization/Conventions/StandardDiscriminatorConvention.cs
index ca4d2cbc117..55148561676 100644
--- a/src/MongoDB.Bson/Serialization/Conventions/StandardDiscriminatorConvention.cs
+++ b/src/MongoDB.Bson/Serialization/Conventions/StandardDiscriminatorConvention.cs
@@ -39,14 +39,15 @@ public abstract class StandardDiscriminatorConvention : IDiscriminatorConvention
         /// <param name="elementName">The element name.</param>
         protected StandardDiscriminatorConvention(string elementName)
         {
-            if (elementName == null)
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(elementName))
             {
-                throw new ArgumentNullException("elementName");
+                throw new ArgumentException("Element names cannot be null or empty.", nameof(elementName));
             }
             if (elementName.IndexOf('\0') != -1)
             {
-                throw new ArgumentException("Element names cannot contain nulls.", "elementName");
+                throw new ArgumentException("Element names cannot contain nulls.", nameof(elementName));
             }
+
             _elementName = elementName;
         }
 
diff --git a/tests/MongoDB.Bson.Tests/Serialization/Conventions/StandardDiscriminatorConventionTests.cs b/tests/MongoDB.Bson.Tests/Serialization/Conventions/StandardDiscriminatorConventionTests.cs
index f1d633bd724..25fabd6b479 100644
--- a/tests/MongoDB.Bson.Tests/Serialization/Conventions/StandardDiscriminatorConventionTests.cs
+++ b/tests/MongoDB.Bson.Tests/Serialization/Conventions/StandardDiscriminatorConventionTests.cs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public void TestConstructorThrowsWhenElementNameContainsNulls()
         [Fact]
         public void TestConstructorThrowsWhenElementNameIsNull()
         {
-            Assert.Throws<ArgumentNullException>(() => new ScalarDiscriminatorConvention(null));
+            Assert.Throws<ArgumentException>(() => new ScalarDiscriminatorConvention(null));
         }
 
         [Fact]
diff --git a/tests/MongoDB.Driver.Tests/Jira/CSharp4040Tests.cs b/tests/MongoDB.Driver.Tests/Jira/CSharp4040Tests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7858491fd0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/MongoDB.Driver.Tests/Jira/CSharp4040Tests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/* Copyright 2010-present MongoDB Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+using FluentAssertions;
+using MongoDB.Bson;
+using MongoDB.Bson.Serialization.Attributes;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace MongoDB.Driver.Tests.Jira
+{
+    public class CSharp4040Tests
+    {
+        private class BaseDocument
+        {
+            [BsonId] public ObjectId Id { get; set; } = ObjectId.GenerateNewId();
+
+            [BsonElement("_t")]
+            public string Field1 { get; set; }
+        }
+
+        private class DerivedDocument : BaseDocument {}
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void BsonClassMapSerializer_serialization_when_using_field_with_same_element_name_as_discriminator_should_throw()
+        {
+            var obj = new DerivedDocument { Field1 = "field1" };
+
+            var recordedException = Record.Exception(() => obj.ToJson(typeof(BaseDocument)));
+            recordedException.Should().NotBeNull();
+            recordedException.Should().BeOfType<BsonSerializationException>();
+            recordedException.Message.Should().Be("The discriminator element name cannot be _t because it is already being used" +
+                                                  " by the property Field1 of type MongoDB.Driver.Tests.Jira.CSharp4040Tests+DerivedDocument");
+        }
+    }
+}