diff --git a/scripts/apps-version-check.sh b/scripts/apps-version-check.sh
index 580fd5ef2..b070e3c45 100755
--- a/scripts/apps-version-check.sh
+++ b/scripts/apps-version-check.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,15 @@ while read -r app; do
         if [ "$changed" -gt 0 ]; then
             echo "$src_file needs a vsn bump"
             bad_app_count=$(( bad_app_count + 1))
+        elif [[ ${app_path} = *emqx_dashboard* ]]; then
+            ## emqx_dashboard is ensured to be upgraded after all other plugins
+            ## at the end of its appup instructions, there is the final instruction
+            ## {apply, {emqx_plugins, load, []}
+            ## since we don't know which plugins are stopped during the upgrade
+            ## for safty, we just force a dashboard version bump for each and every release
+            ## even if there is nothing changed in the app
+            echo "$src_file needs a vsn bump to ensure plugins loaded after upgrade"
+            bad_app_count=$(( bad_app_count + 1))
         fi
     fi
 done < <(./scripts/find-apps.sh)
@@ -29,5 +38,5 @@ done < <(./scripts/find-apps.sh)
 if [ $bad_app_count -gt 0 ]; then
     exit 1
 else
-    echo "apps version check successfully"       
+    echo "apps version check successfully"
 fi