diff --git a/src/babashka/main.clj b/src/babashka/main.clj
index 6f6674e4..bdc2f754 100644
--- a/src/babashka/main.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/main.clj
@@ -77,6 +77,12 @@
 ;; with the java provided by GraalVM.
 
 (def version (str/trim (slurp (io/resource "BABASHKA_VERSION"))))
+(defn parse-version [version]
+  (mapv #(Integer/parseInt %)
+        (-> version
+            (str/replace "-SNAPSHOT" "")
+            (str/split #"\."))))
+(def version-data (parse-version version))
 
 (defn print-version []
   (println (str "babashka v" version)))
@@ -776,12 +782,29 @@ When no eval opts or subcommand is provided, the implicit subcommand is repl.")
             (throw (Exception. "The uberjar task needs a classpath."))))
         exit-code))))
 
+(defn satisfies-min-version? [min-version]
+  (let [[major-current minor-current patch-current] version-data
+        [major-min minor-min patch-min] (parse-version min-version)]
+    (or (> major-current major-min)
+        (and (= major-current major-min)
+             (or (> minor-current minor-min)
+                 (and (= minor-current minor-min)
+                      (>= patch-current patch-min)))))))
+
 (defn main [& args]
   (let [bb-edn-file (or (System/getenv "BABASHKA_EDN")
-                        "bb.edn")]
-    (when (fs/exists? bb-edn-file)
-      (let [edn (edn/read-string (slurp bb-edn-file))]
-        (vreset! common/bb-edn edn))))
+                        "bb.edn")
+        bb-edn (or (when (fs/exists? bb-edn-file)
+                     (let [edn (edn/read-string (slurp bb-edn-file))]
+                       (vreset! common/bb-edn edn)))
+                   ;; tests may have modified bb-edn
+                   @common/bb-edn)
+        min-bb-version (:min-bb-version bb-edn)]
+    (when min-bb-version
+      (when-not (satisfies-min-version? min-bb-version)
+        (binding [*out* *err*]
+          (println (str "WARNING: this project requires babashka "
+                        min-bb-version " or newer, but you have: " version))))))
   (let [opts (parse-opts args)]
     (exec opts)))
 
diff --git a/test/babashka/bb_edn_test.clj b/test/babashka/bb_edn_test.clj
index ad3e43e6..9fcd3a70 100644
--- a/test/babashka/bb_edn_test.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/bb_edn_test.clj
@@ -113,16 +113,23 @@
   (when-not test-utils/native?
     (testing "FILE > TASK > SUBCOMMAND"
       (is (= "foo.jar" (:uberjar (main/parse-opts ["uberjar" "foo.jar"]))))
-      (test-utils/with-config '{:tasks {uberjar (+ 1 2 3)}}
-        (vreset! common/bb-edn (edn/read-string (slurp test-utils/*bb-edn-path*)))
-        (is (= "uberjar" (:run (main/parse-opts ["uberjar"])))))
+      (vreset! common/bb-edn '{:tasks {uberjar (+ 1 2 3)}})
+      (is (= "uberjar" (:run (main/parse-opts ["uberjar"]))))
       (try
-        (test-utils/with-config '{:tasks {uberjar (+ 1 2 3)}}
-          (spit "uberjar" "#!/usr/bin/env bb\n(+ 1 2 3)")
-          (vreset! common/bb-edn (edn/read-string (slurp test-utils/*bb-edn-path*)))
-          (is (= "uberjar" (:file (main/parse-opts ["uberjar"])))))
+        (spit "uberjar" "#!/usr/bin/env bb\n(+ 1 2 3)")
+        (vreset! common/bb-edn '{:tasks {uberjar (+ 1 2 3)}})
+        (is (= "uberjar" (:file (main/parse-opts ["uberjar"]))))
         (finally (fs/delete "uberjar"))))))
 
+(deftest min-bb-version
+  (when-not test-utils/native?
+    (vreset! common/bb-edn '{:min-bb-version "300.0.0"})
+    (let [sw (java.io.StringWriter.)]
+      (binding [*err* sw]
+        (main/main "-e" "nil"))
+      (is (str/includes? (str sw)
+                         "WARNING: this project requires babashka 300.0.0 or newer, but you have: ")))))
+
 ;; TODO:
 ;; Do we want to support the same parsing as the clj CLI?
 ;; Or do we want `--aliases :foo:bar`