diff --git a/R/all-classes.R b/R/all-classes.R
index 42409e655a..43a697a645 100644
--- a/R/all-classes.R
+++ b/R/all-classes.R
@@ -337,6 +337,7 @@ class_ggplot <- S7::new_class(
     layout  = class_layout,
     labels  = class_labels,
     meta    = S7::class_list,
+    version = S7::new_S3_class("package_version"),
     plot_env = S7::class_environment
   ),
   constructor = function(
@@ -368,6 +369,7 @@ class_ggplot <- S7::new_class(
       layout      = layout %||% ggproto(NULL, Layout),
       labels      = labels,
       meta        = meta,
+      version     = current_version,
       plot_env    = plot_env
     )
   }
diff --git a/R/plot-build.R b/R/plot-build.R
index 344fc8a13c..141ec5af70 100644
--- a/R/plot-build.R
+++ b/R/plot-build.R
@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ ggplot_build <- function(plot, ...) {
   if (!is.null(env)) {
     attach_plot_env(env)
   }
+  if (!identical(try_prop(plot, "version"), current_version)) {
+    cli::cli_abort(c(
+      "The plot object was created with a different version of ggplot2. \\
+      Please reconstruct the plot.",
+      i = "Did you save the plot object to disk?"
+    ))
+  }
+
   UseMethod("ggplot_build")
 }
 
diff --git a/R/zzz.R b/R/zzz.R
index bc757f9ef6..593ff568f1 100644
--- a/R/zzz.R
+++ b/R/zzz.R
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ on_load(
   if (getRversion() >= "4.3.0") registerS3method("+", "gg", add_gg)
 )
 
+current_version <- NULL
+on_load(current_version <- packageVersion("ggplot2"))
+
 on_load(S7::methods_register())
 .onLoad <- function(...) {
   run_on_load()
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/plot-build.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/plot-build.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0453368bd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/plot-build.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# attempting the render plot build with previous version fails
+
+    Code
+      print(p)
+    Condition
+      Error in `ggplot_build()`:
+      ! The plot object was created with a different version of ggplot2. Please reconstruct the plot.
+      i Did you save the plot object to disk?
+
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-plot-build.R b/tests/testthat/test-plot-build.R
index cfb4cf6e4a..96ff987b33 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-plot-build.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-plot-build.R
@@ -52,3 +52,9 @@ test_that("strings are not converted to factors", {
 
   expect_type(get_layer_data(p)$label, "character")
 })
+
+test_that("attempting the render plot build with previous version fails", {
+  p <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(disp, mpg)) + geom_point()
+  p@version <- package_version("3.5.2")
+  expect_snapshot(print(p), error = TRUE)
+})