diff --git a/storagedriver/README.md b/storagedriver/README.md
index f2795834d..387e245bf 100644
--- a/storagedriver/README.md
+++ b/storagedriver/README.md
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ Storage drivers should call `factory.Register` with their driver name in an `ini
 ### Out-of-process drivers
 As many users will run the registry as a pre-constructed docker container, storage drivers should also be distributable as IPC server executables. Drivers written in go should model the main method provided in `main/storagedriver/filesystem/filesystem.go`. Parameters to IPC drivers will be provided as a JSON-serialized map in the first argument to the process. These parameters should be validated and then a blocking call to `ipc.StorageDriverServer` should be made with a new storage driver.
 
+Out-of-process drivers must also implement the `ipc.IPCStorageDriver` interface, which exposes a `Version` check for the storage driver. This is used to validate storage driver api compatibility at driver load-time.
+
 ## Testing
 Storage driver test suites are provided in `storagedriver/testsuites/testsuites.go` and may be used for any storage driver written in go. Two methods are provided for registering test suites, `RegisterInProcessSuite` and `RegisterIPCSuite`, which run the same set of tests for the driver imported or managed over IPC respectively.
 
diff --git a/storagedriver/ipc/client.go b/storagedriver/ipc/client.go
index fd5f15c32..f4d5f49ed 100644
--- a/storagedriver/ipc/client.go
+++ b/storagedriver/ipc/client.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"path"
 	"syscall"
 
+	"github.com/docker/docker-registry/storagedriver"
 	"github.com/docker/libchan"
 	"github.com/docker/libchan/spdy"
 )
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ type StorageDriverClient struct {
 	socket     *os.File
 	transport  *spdy.Transport
 	sender     libchan.Sender
+	version    storagedriver.Version
 }
 
 // NewDriverClient constructs a new out-of-process storage driver using the driver name and
@@ -65,42 +67,62 @@ func (driver *StorageDriverClient) Start() error {
 	}
 
 	childSocket := os.NewFile(uintptr(fileDescriptors[0]), "childSocket")
-	parentSocket := os.NewFile(uintptr(fileDescriptors[1]), "parentSocket")
+	driver.socket = os.NewFile(uintptr(fileDescriptors[1]), "parentSocket")
 
 	driver.subprocess.Stdout = os.Stdout
 	driver.subprocess.Stderr = os.Stderr
 	driver.subprocess.ExtraFiles = []*os.File{childSocket}
 
 	if err = driver.subprocess.Start(); err != nil {
-		parentSocket.Close()
+		driver.Stop()
 		return err
 	}
 
 	if err = childSocket.Close(); err != nil {
-		parentSocket.Close()
+		driver.Stop()
 		return err
 	}
 
-	connection, err := net.FileConn(parentSocket)
+	connection, err := net.FileConn(driver.socket)
 	if err != nil {
-		parentSocket.Close()
+		driver.Stop()
 		return err
 	}
-	transport, err := spdy.NewClientTransport(connection)
+	driver.transport, err = spdy.NewClientTransport(connection)
 	if err != nil {
-		parentSocket.Close()
+		driver.Stop()
 		return err
 	}
-	sender, err := transport.NewSendChannel()
+	driver.sender, err = driver.transport.NewSendChannel()
 	if err != nil {
-		transport.Close()
-		parentSocket.Close()
+		driver.Stop()
 		return err
 	}
 
-	driver.socket = parentSocket
-	driver.transport = transport
-	driver.sender = sender
+	// Check the driver's version to determine compatibility
+	receiver, remoteSender := libchan.Pipe()
+	err = driver.sender.Send(&Request{Type: "Version", ResponseChannel: remoteSender})
+	if err != nil {
+		driver.Stop()
+		return err
+	}
+
+	var response VersionResponse
+	err = receiver.Receive(&response)
+	if err != nil {
+		driver.Stop()
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if response.Error != nil {
+		return response.Error
+	}
+
+	driver.version = response.Version
+
+	if driver.version.Major() != storagedriver.CurrentVersion.Major() || driver.version.Minor() > storagedriver.CurrentVersion.Minor() {
+		return IncompatibleVersionError{driver.version}
+	}
 
 	return nil
 }
@@ -108,10 +130,20 @@ func (driver *StorageDriverClient) Start() error {
 // Stop stops the child process storage driver
 // storagedriver.StorageDriver methods called after Stop will fail
 func (driver *StorageDriverClient) Stop() error {
-	closeSenderErr := driver.sender.Close()
-	closeTransportErr := driver.transport.Close()
-	closeSocketErr := driver.socket.Close()
-	killErr := driver.subprocess.Process.Kill()
+	var closeSenderErr, closeTransportErr, closeSocketErr, killErr error
+
+	if driver.sender != nil {
+		closeSenderErr = driver.sender.Close()
+	}
+	if driver.transport != nil {
+		closeTransportErr = driver.transport.Close()
+	}
+	if driver.socket != nil {
+		closeSocketErr = driver.socket.Close()
+	}
+	if driver.subprocess != nil {
+		killErr = driver.subprocess.Process.Kill()
+	}
 
 	if closeSenderErr != nil {
 		return closeSenderErr
diff --git a/storagedriver/ipc/ipc.go b/storagedriver/ipc/ipc.go
index 9c6b1dc01..f7eb897e1 100644
--- a/storagedriver/ipc/ipc.go
+++ b/storagedriver/ipc/ipc.go
@@ -5,9 +5,29 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"reflect"
 
+	"github.com/docker/docker-registry/storagedriver"
 	"github.com/docker/libchan"
 )
 
+// IPCStorageDriver is the interface which IPC storage drivers must implement. As external storage
+// drivers may be defined to use a different version of the storagedriver.StorageDriver interface,
+// we use an additional version check to determine compatiblity.
+type IPCStorageDriver interface {
+	// Version returns the storagedriver.StorageDriver interface version which this storage driver
+	// implements, which is used to determine driver compatibility
+	Version() (storagedriver.Version, error)
+}
+
+// IncompatibleVersionError is returned when a storage driver is using an incompatible version of
+// the storagedriver.StorageDriver api
+type IncompatibleVersionError struct {
+	version storagedriver.Version
+}
+
+func (e IncompatibleVersionError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("Incompatible storage driver version: %s", e.version)
+}
+
 // Request defines a remote method call request
 // A return value struct is to be sent over the ResponseChannel
 type Request struct {
@@ -38,6 +58,12 @@ func (err *responseError) Error() string {
 
 // IPC method call response object definitions
 
+// VersionResponse is a response for a Version request
+type VersionResponse struct {
+	Version storagedriver.Version
+	Error   *responseError
+}
+
 // ReadStreamResponse is a response for a ReadStream request
 type ReadStreamResponse struct {
 	Reader io.ReadCloser
diff --git a/storagedriver/ipc/server.go b/storagedriver/ipc/server.go
index d73be2f6d..d6cd83f06 100644
--- a/storagedriver/ipc/server.go
+++ b/storagedriver/ipc/server.go
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ func receive(driver storagedriver.StorageDriver, receiver libchan.Receiver) {
 // Responds to requests using the Request.ResponseChannel
 func handleRequest(driver storagedriver.StorageDriver, request Request) {
 	switch request.Type {
+	case "Version":
+		err := request.ResponseChannel.Send(&VersionResponse{Version: storagedriver.CurrentVersion})
+		if err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
 	case "GetContent":
 		path, _ := request.Parameters["Path"].(string)
 		content, err := driver.GetContent(path)
diff --git a/storagedriver/storagedriver.go b/storagedriver/storagedriver.go
index a66dba0c2..b5da592f3 100644
--- a/storagedriver/storagedriver.go
+++ b/storagedriver/storagedriver.go
@@ -3,8 +3,32 @@ package storagedriver
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 )
 
+// Version is a string representing the storage driver version, of the form Major.Minor.
+// The registry must accept storage drivers with equal major version and greater minor version,
+// but may not be compatible with older storage driver versions.
+type Version string
+
+// Major returns the major (primary) component of a version
+func (version Version) Major() uint {
+	majorPart := strings.Split(string(version), ".")[0]
+	major, _ := strconv.ParseUint(majorPart, 10, 0)
+	return uint(major)
+}
+
+// Minor returns the minor (secondary) component of a version
+func (version Version) Minor() uint {
+	minorPart := strings.Split(string(version), ".")[1]
+	minor, _ := strconv.ParseUint(minorPart, 10, 0)
+	return uint(minor)
+}
+
+// CurrentVersion is the current storage driver Version
+const CurrentVersion Version = "0.1"
+
 // StorageDriver defines methods that a Storage Driver must implement for a filesystem-like
 // key/value object storage
 type StorageDriver interface {