diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 46b482e0a5b..46967152919 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ DOCKER := $(shell which docker)
 BUILDDIR ?= $(CURDIR)/build
 TEST_DOCKER_REPO=cosmos/contrib-gaiatest
 
+GO_SYSTEM_VERSION = $(shell go version | cut -c 14- | cut -d' ' -f1 | cut -d'.' -f1-2)
+REQUIRE_GO_VERSION = 1.18
+
 export GO111MODULE = on
 
 # process build tags
@@ -89,16 +92,22 @@ endif
 include contrib/devtools/Makefile
 
 ###############################################################################
-###                              Documentation                              ###
+###                              Build                                      ###
 ###############################################################################
 
+check_version:
+ifneq ($(GO_SYSTEM_VERSION), $(REQUIRE_GO_VERSION))
+	@echo "ERROR: Go version 1.18 is required for $(VERSION) of Gaia."
+	exit 1
+endif
+
 all: install lint run-tests test-e2e vulncheck
 
 BUILD_TARGETS := build install
 
 build: BUILD_ARGS=-o $(BUILDDIR)/
 
-$(BUILD_TARGETS): go.sum $(BUILDDIR)/
+$(BUILD_TARGETS): check_version go.sum $(BUILDDIR)/
 	go $@ -mod=readonly $(BUILD_FLAGS) $(BUILD_ARGS) ./...
 
 $(BUILDDIR)/: