diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ee326e6d..a4db0491 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -15,19 +15,26 @@ BUILD_FLAGS := -ldflags '$(ldflags)'
 
 all: install
 
-build: go.sum
+build: check-go-version go.sum
 ifeq ($(OS), Windows_NT)
 	go build -mod=readonly $(BUILD_FLAGS) -o build/$(shell go env GOOS)/decentrd.exe ./cmd/decentrd
 else
 	go build -mod=readonly $(BUILD_FLAGS) -o build/$(shell go env GOOS)/decentrd ./cmd/decentrd
 endif
 
-install: go.sum
+install: check-go-version go.sum
 	go install -mod=readonly $(BUILD_FLAGS) ./cmd/decentrd
 
-linux: go.sum
+linux: check-go-version go.sum
 	GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 $(MAKE) build
 
+# Add check to make sure we are using the proper Go version before proceeding with anything
+check-go-version:
+	@if ! go version | grep -q "go1.19"; then \
+		echo "\033[0;31mERROR:\033[0m Go version 1.19 is required for compiling decentrd. It looks like you are using" "$(shell go version) \nThere are potential consensus-breaking changes that can occur when running binaries compiled with different versions of Go. Please download Go version 1.19 and retry. Thank you!"; \
+		exit 1; \
+	fi
+
 ### tools ###
 
 clean:
@@ -64,9 +71,9 @@ containerProtoGen=decentr-buildtools-protogen
 containerProtoSwaggerGen=decentr-buildtools-protoswaggergen
 containerProtoFmt=decentr-buildtools-protofmt
 
-proto-all: proto-lint proto-gen
+proto-all: check-go-version proto-lint proto-gen
 
-proto-gen:
+proto-gen: check-go-version
 	@echo "Generating Protobuf files"
 	@if docker ps -a --format '{{.Names}}' | grep -Eq "^${containerProtoGen}$$"; then docker start -a $(containerProtoGen); else docker run --name $(containerProtoGen) -v $(CURDIR):/workspace --workdir /workspace $(buildtools) \
 		sh ./scripts/protocgen.sh; fi