diff --git a/onnxruntime/core/providers/qnn/qnn_execution_provider.cc b/onnxruntime/core/providers/qnn/qnn_execution_provider.cc
index 2606ace8127d3..f045dae7b4e6a 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/core/providers/qnn/qnn_execution_provider.cc
+++ b/onnxruntime/core/providers/qnn/qnn_execution_provider.cc
@@ -910,14 +910,14 @@ Status QNNExecutionProvider::CompileFromOrtGraph(const std::vector<FusedNodeAndG
 }
 
 // Figure out the context cache Onnx file path to decide the folder location
-static void GetContextOnnxModelFilePath(const std::string& customer_context_cache_path,
+static void GetContextOnnxModelFilePath(const std::string& user_context_cache_path,
                                         const onnxruntime::PathString& model_path_string,
-                                        onnxruntime::PathString& context_cache_binary_path) {
+                                        onnxruntime::PathString& context_model_path) {
   // always try the path set by user first, it's the only way to set it if load model from memory
-  if (!customer_context_cache_path.empty()) {
-    context_cache_binary_path = ToPathString(customer_context_cache_path);
+  if (!user_context_cache_path.empty()) {
+    context_model_path = ToPathString(user_context_cache_path);
   } else if (!model_path_string.empty()) {  // model loaded from file
-    context_cache_binary_path = model_path_string;
+    context_model_path = model_path_string;
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/onnxruntime/core/session/utils.cc b/onnxruntime/core/session/utils.cc
index afb1ed2696c9f..d768f004bf531 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/core/session/utils.cc
+++ b/onnxruntime/core/session/utils.cc
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include "core/session/onnxruntime_c_api.h"
 #include "core/session/ort_apis.h"
 #include "core/session/ort_env.h"
+#include "core/session/onnxruntime_session_options_config_keys.h"
 
 using namespace onnxruntime;
 
@@ -49,6 +50,18 @@ OrtStatus* CreateSessionAndLoadModel(_In_ const OrtSessionOptions* options,
   bool load_config_from_model =
       os_env.GetEnvironmentVar(inference_session_utils::kOrtLoadConfigFromModelEnvVar) == "1";
 
+  // If ep.context_enable is set, then ep.context_file_path is expected, otherwise ORT don't know where to generate the _ctx.onnx file
+  if (options && model_path == nullptr) {
+    auto ep_context_enable = options->value.config_options.GetConfigEntry(kOrtSessionOptionEpContextEnable);
+    auto ep_context_file_path = options->value.config_options.GetConfigEntry(kOrtSessionOptionEpContextFilePath);
+    if (ep_context_enable.has_value() && ep_context_enable.value() == "1" && (!ep_context_file_path.has_value() || (ep_context_file_path.has_value() && ep_context_file_path.value().empty()))) {
+      return OrtApis::CreateStatus(ORT_FAIL,
+                                   "CreateSessionFromArray is called with ep.context_enable enabled but an \
+empty ep.context_file_path. The system does not know where to generate the \
+EP context model. Please specify a valid ep.context_file_path.");
+    }
+  }
+
   if (load_config_from_model) {
 #if !defined(ORT_MINIMAL_BUILD)
     if (model_path != nullptr) {
diff --git a/onnxruntime/test/providers/qnn/qnn_ep_context_test.cc b/onnxruntime/test/providers/qnn/qnn_ep_context_test.cc
index e39102a21dd1c..afb49d9d0a0c6 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/test/providers/qnn/qnn_ep_context_test.cc
+++ b/onnxruntime/test/providers/qnn/qnn_ep_context_test.cc
@@ -68,7 +68,10 @@ void CleanUpCtxFile(std::string context_file_path) {
   GetContextBinaryFileName(context_file_path, qnn_ctx_binary_file_name,
                            DefaultLoggingManager().DefaultLogger());
 
-  ASSERT_EQ(std::remove(qnn_ctx_binary_file_name.c_str()), 0);
+  std::filesystem::path ctx_model_path(context_file_path);
+
+  std::string qnn_ctx_binary_file_path = (ctx_model_path.remove_filename().string() + qnn_ctx_binary_file_name);
+  ASSERT_EQ(std::remove(qnn_ctx_binary_file_path.c_str()), 0);
   ASSERT_EQ(std::remove(context_file_path.c_str()), 0);
 }
 
@@ -152,7 +155,7 @@ void QnnContextBinaryMultiPartitionTestBody(bool single_ep_node = true) {
 
   const auto model_data_span = AsByteSpan(model_data.data(), model_data.size());
 
-  const std::string context_model_file = "./qnn_context_binary_multi_partition_test.onnx";
+  const std::string context_model_file = "./testdata/qnn_context_binary_multi_partition_test.onnx";
   std::remove(context_model_file.c_str());
   Ort::SessionOptions so;
   so.AddConfigEntry(kOrtSessionOptionEpContextEnable, "1");
@@ -1309,6 +1312,63 @@ TEST_F(QnnHTPBackendTests, QnnContextGenWeightSharingSessionAPI) {
   }
   ASSERT_EQ(std::remove(qnn_ctx_binary_file_name1.c_str()), 0);
 }
+
+// Session created from array wth ep.context_enable enabled without ep.context_file_path
+// Error message expected
+TEST_F(QnnHTPBackendTests, LoadFromArrayWithQnnEpContextGenPathValidation) {
+  ProviderOptions provider_options;
+#if defined(_WIN32)
+  provider_options["backend_path"] = "QnnHtp.dll";
+#else
+  provider_options["backend_path"] = "libQnnHtp.so";
+#endif
+  const std::unordered_map<std::string, int> domain_to_version = {{"", 13}, {kMSDomain, 1}};
+
+  auto& logging_manager = DefaultLoggingManager();
+  logging_manager.SetDefaultLoggerSeverity(logging::Severity::kERROR);
+  onnxruntime::Model model("QNN_EP_TestModel", false, ModelMetaData(), PathString(),
+                           IOnnxRuntimeOpSchemaRegistryList(), domain_to_version, {},
+                           logging_manager.DefaultLogger());
+  Graph& graph = model.MainGraph();
+  ModelTestBuilder helper(graph);
+  bool single_ep_node = true;
+  BuildGraphWithQAndNonQ(single_ep_node)(helper);
+  helper.SetGraphOutputs();
+  ASSERT_STATUS_OK(model.MainGraph().Resolve());
+
+  // Serialize the model to a string.
+  std::string model_data;
+  model.ToProto().SerializeToString(&model_data);
+
+  const auto model_data_span = AsByteSpan(model_data.data(), model_data.size());
+
+  const std::string context_model_file = "./qnn_context_binary_multi_partition_test.onnx";
+  std::remove(context_model_file.c_str());
+  Ort::SessionOptions so;
+  so.AddConfigEntry(kOrtSessionOptionEpContextEnable, "1");
+  so.AppendExecutionProvider("QNN", provider_options);
+
+  ORT_TRY {
+    Ort::Session session1(*ort_env, model_data_span.data(), model_data_span.size(), so);
+  }
+  ORT_CATCH(const std::exception& e) {
+    ORT_HANDLE_EXCEPTION([&e]() {
+      std::string e_message1(std::string(e.what()));
+      ASSERT_TRUE(e_message1.find("Please specify a valid ep.context_file_path.") != std::string::npos);
+    });
+  }
+
+  ORT_TRY {
+    so.AddConfigEntry(kOrtSessionOptionEpContextFilePath, "");
+    Ort::Session session2(*ort_env, model_data_span.data(), model_data_span.size(), so);
+  }
+  ORT_CATCH(const std::exception& ex) {
+    ORT_HANDLE_EXCEPTION([&ex]() {
+      std::string e_message2(std::string(ex.what()));
+      ASSERT_TRUE(e_message2.find("Please specify a valid ep.context_file_path.") != std::string::npos);
+    });
+  }
+}
 #endif  // defined(__aarch64__) || defined(_M_ARM64) || defined(__linux__)
 
 }  // namespace test