diff --git a/.chloggen/mdatagen-toversion-only-stable-deprecated.yaml b/.chloggen/mdatagen-toversion-only-stable-deprecated.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..817e9352a10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chloggen/mdatagen-toversion-only-stable-deprecated.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: enhancement
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. receiver/otlp)
+component: cmd/mdatagen
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Only allow the `ToVersion` feature flag attribute to be set for the `Stable` and `Deprecated` stages.
+
+# One or more tracking issues or pull requests related to the change
+issues: [15040]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext: |
+  To better match the feature flag README
+  (https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/blob/main/featuregate/README.md#feature-lifecycle).
+
+# Optional: The change log or logs in which this entry should be included.
+# e.g. '[user]' or '[user, api]'
+# Include 'user' if the change is relevant to end users.
+# Include 'api' if there is a change to a library API.
+# Default: '[user]'
+change_logs: []
diff --git a/cmd/mdatagen/internal/metadata.go b/cmd/mdatagen/internal/metadata.go
index a4b9aa42527..938654dc996 100644
--- a/cmd/mdatagen/internal/metadata.go
+++ b/cmd/mdatagen/internal/metadata.go
@@ -441,6 +441,10 @@ func (md *Metadata) validateFeatureGates() error {
 		if (gate.Stage == FeatureGateStageStable || gate.Stage == FeatureGateStageDeprecated) && gate.ToVersion == "" {
 			errs = errors.Join(errs, fmt.Errorf(`feature gate "%v": to_version is required for %v stage gates`, gate.ID, gate.Stage))
 		}
+		// Any gate other than stable/deprecated shouldn't have to_version
+		if gate.Stage != FeatureGateStageStable && gate.Stage != FeatureGateStageDeprecated && gate.ToVersion != "" {
+			errs = errors.Join(errs, fmt.Errorf(`feature gate "%v": to_version is not supported for the %v stage`, gate.ID, gate.Stage))
+		}
 	}
 	return errs
 }
diff --git a/cmd/mdatagen/internal/metadata_test.go b/cmd/mdatagen/internal/metadata_test.go
index 1afe0be981a..0a19a8bf420 100644
--- a/cmd/mdatagen/internal/metadata_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mdatagen/internal/metadata_test.go
@@ -478,6 +478,17 @@ func TestValidateFeatureGates(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			wantErr: `to_version is required for deprecated stage gates`,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "non-stable or deprecated gate with a to_version",
+			featureGate: FeatureGate{
+				ID:          "component.feature",
+				Description: "Test feature",
+				Stage:       FeatureGateStageBeta,
+				FromVersion: "v0.90.0",
+				ToVersion:   "v0.91.0",
+			},
+			wantErr: `to_version is not supported for the beta stage`,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "missing reference_url",
 			featureGate: FeatureGate{