diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 1bbb7f118b..668207c948 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 v1.1.beta3 (XXXX-XX-XX)
 
+* WARNING:
+  arangod now performs a database version check at startup. It will look for a file
+  named "VERSION" in its database directory. If the file is not present, arangod will
+  refuse to start and ask the user to run arango-upgrade first. If the VERSION file
+  is present but is from an older version of ArangoDB, arangod will also refuse to
+  start and ask the user to run the upgrade script first. This procedure shall ensure
+  that users have full control over when they perform any updates/upgrades of their
+  data, and do not risk running an incompatible server/database state tandem.
+
 * fixed issue #283: AQL LENGTH() now works on documents, too
 
 * fixed issue #281: documentation for skip lists shows wrong example
diff --git a/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp b/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
index a70d392b7f..86a5f77b97 100644
--- a/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
+++ b/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
@@ -691,6 +691,8 @@ bool ApplicationV8::prepareV8Instance (const size_t i) {
 
 
   if (i == 0 && _runVersionCheck) {
+    LOGGER_DEBUG << "running database version check";
+
     const string script = _startupLoader.buildScript(JS_server_version_check);
 
     // special check script to be run just once in first thread (not in all)
@@ -709,6 +711,8 @@ bool ApplicationV8::prepareV8Instance (const size_t i) {
 
       return false;
     }
+    
+    LOGGER_DEBUG << "database version check passed";
   }
 
   // load all actions
diff --git a/js/server/arango-upgrade.js b/js/server/arango-upgrade.js
index 7c750bf8a8..f39daad5ae 100644
--- a/js/server/arango-upgrade.js
+++ b/js/server/arango-upgrade.js
@@ -58,8 +58,12 @@ function main (argv) {
     var versionInfo = SYS_READ(versionFile);
     if (versionInfo != '') {
       var versionValues = JSON.parse(versionInfo);
-      lastVersion = parseFloat(versionValues.version);
-      lastTasks   = versionValues.tasks;
+      if (versionValues && versionValues.version && ! isNaN(versionValues.version)) {
+        lastVersion = parseFloat(versionValues.version);
+      }
+      if (versionValues && versionValues.tasks && typeof(versionValues.tasks) === 'object') {
+        lastTasks   = versionValues.tasks || { };
+      }
     }
   }
     
diff --git a/js/server/version-check.js b/js/server/version-check.js
index 4a999f2e90..64629adb74 100644
--- a/js/server/version-check.js
+++ b/js/server/version-check.js
@@ -54,7 +54,14 @@
   var versionInfo = SYS_READ(versionFile);
   if (versionInfo != '') {
     var versionValues = JSON.parse(versionInfo);
-    lastVersion = parseFloat(versionValues.version);
+    if (versionValues && versionValues.version && ! isNaN(versionValues.version)) {
+      lastVersion = parseFloat(versionValues.version);
+    }
+  }
+  
+  if (lastVersion == null) {
+    console.error("No version information file found in database directory.");
+    return false;
   }
     
   var currentServerVersion = VERSION.match(/^(\d+\.\d+).*$/);
@@ -67,7 +74,8 @@
 
   if (lastVersion != null && lastVersion > currentVersion) {
     // downgrade??
-    console.warn("Database directory version is higher than server version. This seems like you are running arangodb on a database directory that was created with a newer version. This is not supported.");
+    console.error("Database directory version is higher than server version.");
+    console.error("It seems like you are running arangodb on a database directory that was created with a newer version. This is not supported.");
     // still, allow the start
   }