diff --git a/lib/tasks/compatibility.rake b/lib/tasks/compatibility.rake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..94f37c16c24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/tasks/compatibility.rake
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+desc "validate a discourse-compatibility file"
+task "compatibility:validate", %i[path] => :environment do |t, args|
+  path = args[:path]
+
+  class CoreTooRecentError < StandardError
+  end
+
+  def fail!(msg, error)
+    puts <<~MSG
+        --- FAILURE ---
+        #{msg.strip}
+        ---------------
+      MSG
+    raise error
+  end
+
+  puts "Current Discourse Version: #{::Discourse::VERSION::STRING}"
+  puts "Checking validity of #{path}"
+
+  content = File.read(path)
+  begin
+    result = Discourse.find_compatible_resource(content)
+
+    puts "File parsed successfully"
+
+    fail! <<~MSG, CoreTooRecentError if result
+        Compatibility file has an entry which matches the current version of Discourse core.
+        This is not allowed - compatibility files should only be used for older core versions
+      MSG
+  rescue Discourse::InvalidVersionListError => e
+    fail! "Invalid version list", e
+  end
+
+  puts "Compatibility file is valid"
+end
diff --git a/spec/tasks/compatibility_spec.rb b/spec/tasks/compatibility_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1d08b50457f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/tasks/compatibility_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+RSpec.describe "compatibility:validate" do
+  before do
+    Rake::Task.clear
+    Discourse::Application.load_tasks
+  end
+
+  def invoke(content)
+    file = Tempfile.new("discourse-compat-validate")
+    file.write content
+    file.close
+    error = nil
+    stdout =
+      capture_stdout do
+        Rake::Task["compatibility:validate"].invoke(file.path)
+      rescue => e
+        error = e
+      end
+    [error, stdout]
+  ensure
+    file.unlink
+  end
+
+  it "passes for a valid .discourse-compatibility file" do
+    error, stdout = invoke <<~CONTENT
+      2.5.0.beta6: c4a6c17
+      2.5.0.beta4: d1d2d3f
+    CONTENT
+    expect(error).to eq(nil)
+    expect(stdout).to include("Compatibility file is valid")
+  end
+
+  it "passes for empty file" do
+    error, stdout = invoke ""
+    expect(error).to eq(nil)
+    expect(stdout).to include("Compatibility file is valid")
+  end
+
+  it "fails for invalid YAML" do
+    error, stdout = invoke <<~CONTENT
+      2.5.0.beta6 c4a6c17
+    CONTENT
+    expect(error).to be_a(Discourse::InvalidVersionListError)
+    expect(stdout).to include("Invalid version list")
+  end
+
+  it "fails for invalid version specifier" do
+    error, stdout = invoke <<~CONTENT
+      > 2.5.0.beta6: c4a6c17
+    CONTENT
+    expect(error).to be_a(Discourse::InvalidVersionListError)
+    expect(stdout).to include("Invalid version list")
+  end
+
+  it "fails when matching current core version" do
+    error, stdout = invoke <<~CONTENT
+      #{Discourse::VERSION::STRING}: c4a6c17
+    CONTENT
+    expect(error).to be_a(CoreTooRecentError)
+    expect(stdout).to include(
+      "Compatibility file has an entry which matches the current version of Discourse core",
+    )
+  end
+end