diff --git a/bin/install_upgrade.escript b/bin/install_upgrade.escript
index 6c27dc49a..150e4ca7d 100755
--- a/bin/install_upgrade.escript
+++ b/bin/install_upgrade.escript
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ main(Args) ->
 unpack({RelName, NameTypeArg, NodeName, Cookie}, Opts) ->
     TargetNode = start_distribution(NodeName, NameTypeArg, Cookie),
     Version = proplists:get_value(version, Opts),
+    validate_target_version(Version, TargetNode),
     case unpack_release(RelName, TargetNode, Version) of
         {ok, Vsn} ->
             ?INFO("Unpacked successfully: ~p", [Vsn]);