diff --git a/cmd/flux/check.go b/cmd/flux/check.go
index fad6a6cb..83fec660 100644
--- a/cmd/flux/check.go
+++ b/cmd/flux/check.go
@@ -23,14 +23,17 @@ import (
 	"os/exec"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/blang/semver/v4"
+	"github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
 	apimachineryversion "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/version"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
 
+	"github.com/fluxcd/pkg/version"
+
 	"github.com/fluxcd/flux2/internal/utils"
+	"github.com/fluxcd/flux2/pkg/manifestgen/install"
 )
 
 var checkCmd = &cobra.Command{
@@ -76,6 +79,8 @@ func runCheckCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	logger.Actionf("checking prerequisites")
 	checkFailed := false
 
+	fluxCheck()
+
 	if !kubectlCheck(ctx, ">=1.18.0") {
 		checkFailed = true
 	}
@@ -103,7 +108,29 @@ func runCheckCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func kubectlCheck(ctx context.Context, version string) bool {
+func fluxCheck() {
+	curSv, err := version.ParseVersion(VERSION)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	// Exclude development builds.
+	if curSv.Prerelease() != "" {
+		return
+	}
+	latest, err := install.GetLatestVersion()
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	latestSv, err := version.ParseVersion(latest)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if latestSv.GreaterThan(curSv) {
+		logger.Failuref("flux %s <%s (new version is available, please upgrade)", curSv, latestSv)
+	}
+}
+
+func kubectlCheck(ctx context.Context, constraint string) bool {
 	_, err := exec.LookPath("kubectl")
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Failuref("kubectl not found")
@@ -119,58 +146,58 @@ func kubectlCheck(ctx context.Context, version string) bool {
 
 	kv := &kubectlVersion{}
 	if err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(output), kv); err != nil {
-		logger.Failuref("kubectl version output can't be unmarshaled")
+		logger.Failuref("kubectl version output can't be unmarshalled")
 		return false
 	}
 
-	v, err := semver.ParseTolerant(kv.ClientVersion.GitVersion)
+	v, err := version.ParseVersion(kv.ClientVersion.GitVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Failuref("kubectl version can't be parsed")
 		return false
 	}
 
-	rng, _ := semver.ParseRange(version)
-	if !rng(v) {
-		logger.Failuref("kubectl version must be %s", version)
+	c, _ := semver.NewConstraint(constraint)
+	if !c.Check(v) {
+		logger.Failuref("kubectl version must be %s", constraint)
 		return false
 	}
 
-	logger.Successf("kubectl %s %s", v.String(), version)
+	logger.Successf("kubectl %s %s", v.String(), constraint)
 	return true
 }
 
-func kubernetesCheck(version string) bool {
+func kubernetesCheck(constraint string) bool {
 	cfg, err := utils.KubeConfig(rootArgs.kubeconfig, rootArgs.kubecontext)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Failuref("Kubernetes client initialization failed: %s", err.Error())
 		return false
 	}
 
-	client, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(cfg)
+	clientSet, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(cfg)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Failuref("Kubernetes client initialization failed: %s", err.Error())
 		return false
 	}
 
-	ver, err := client.Discovery().ServerVersion()
+	kv, err := clientSet.Discovery().ServerVersion()
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Failuref("Kubernetes API call failed: %s", err.Error())
 		return false
 	}
 
-	v, err := semver.ParseTolerant(ver.String())
+	v, err := version.ParseVersion(kv.String())
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Failuref("Kubernetes version can't be determined")
 		return false
 	}
 
-	rng, _ := semver.ParseRange(version)
-	if !rng(v) {
-		logger.Failuref("Kubernetes version must be %s", version)
+	c, _ := semver.NewConstraint(constraint)
+	if !c.Check(v) {
+		logger.Failuref("Kubernetes version must be %s", constraint)
 		return false
 	}
 
-	logger.Successf("Kubernetes %s %s", v.String(), version)
+	logger.Successf("Kubernetes %s %s", v.String(), constraint)
 	return true
 }
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 0d69186b..7f4b6bb4 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module github.com/fluxcd/flux2
 go 1.15
 
 require (
-	github.com/blang/semver/v4 v4.0.0
+	github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3 v3.1.0
 	github.com/cyphar/filepath-securejoin v0.2.2
 	github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller/api v0.7.0
 	github.com/fluxcd/image-automation-controller/api v0.5.0
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/runtime v0.8.0
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/ssh v0.0.5
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/untar v0.0.5
+	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/version v0.0.1
 	github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api v0.8.0
 	github.com/google/go-containerregistry v0.2.0
 	github.com/manifoldco/promptui v0.7.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 5c6684f8..9c3c39b6 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ github.com/BurntSushi/toml v0.3.1/go.mod h1:xHWCNGjB5oqiDr8zfno3MHue2Ht5sIBksp03
 github.com/BurntSushi/xgb v0.0.0-20160522181843-27f122750802/go.mod h1:IVnqGOEym/WlBOVXweHU+Q+/VP0lqqI8lqeDx9IjBqo=
 github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/k8s-cloud-provider v0.0.0-20190822182118-27a4ced34534/go.mod h1:iroGtC8B3tQiqtds1l+mgk/BBOrxbqjH+eUfFQYRc14=
 github.com/MakeNowJust/heredoc v0.0.0-20170808103936-bb23615498cd/go.mod h1:64YHyfSL2R96J44Nlwm39UHepQbyR5q10x7iYa1ks2E=
+github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3 v3.1.0 h1:Y2lUDsFKVRSYGojLJ1yLxSXdMmMYTYls0rCvoqmMUQk=
+github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3 v3.1.0/go.mod h1:VPu/7SZ7ePZ3QOrcuXROw5FAcLl4a0cBrbBpGY/8hQs=
 github.com/Microsoft/go-winio v0.4.14/go.mod h1:qXqCSQ3Xa7+6tgxaGTIe4Kpcdsi+P8jBhyzoq1bpyYA=
 github.com/NYTimes/gziphandler v0.0.0-20170623195520-56545f4a5d46/go.mod h1:3wb06e3pkSAbeQ52E9H9iFoQsEEwGN64994WTCIhntQ=
 github.com/OneOfOne/xxhash v1.2.2/go.mod h1:HSdplMjZKSmBqAxg5vPj2TmRDmfkzw+cTzAElWljhcU=
@@ -112,10 +114,7 @@ github.com/bgentry/go-netrc v0.0.0-20140422174119-9fd32a8b3d3d/go.mod h1:6QX/PXZ
 github.com/bgentry/speakeasy v0.1.0/go.mod h1:+zsyZBPWlz7T6j88CTgSN5bM796AkVf0kBD4zp0CCIs=
 github.com/bketelsen/crypt v0.0.3-0.20200106085610-5cbc8cc4026c/go.mod h1:MKsuJmJgSg28kpZDP6UIiPt0e0Oz0kqKNGyRaWEPv84=
 github.com/blang/semver v3.5.0+incompatible/go.mod h1:kRBLl5iJ+tD4TcOOxsy/0fnwebNt5EWlYSAyrTnjyyk=
-github.com/blang/semver v3.5.1+incompatible h1:cQNTCjp13qL8KC3Nbxr/y2Bqb63oX6wdnnjpJbkM4JQ=
 github.com/blang/semver v3.5.1+incompatible/go.mod h1:kRBLl5iJ+tD4TcOOxsy/0fnwebNt5EWlYSAyrTnjyyk=
-github.com/blang/semver/v4 v4.0.0 h1:1PFHFE6yCCTv8C1TeyNNarDzntLi7wMI5i/pzqYIsAM=
-github.com/blang/semver/v4 v4.0.0/go.mod h1:IbckMUScFkM3pff0VJDNKRiT6TG/YpiHIM2yvyW5YoQ=
 github.com/bombsimon/wsl v1.2.5/go.mod h1:43lEF/i0kpXbLCeDXL9LMT8c92HyBywXb0AsgMHYngM=
 github.com/census-instrumentation/opencensus-proto v0.2.1/go.mod h1:f6KPmirojxKA12rnyqOA5BBL4O983OfeGPqjHWSTneU=
 github.com/cespare/xxhash v1.1.0 h1:a6HrQnmkObjyL+Gs60czilIUGqrzKutQD6XZog3p+ko=
@@ -220,6 +219,8 @@ github.com/fluxcd/pkg/ssh v0.0.5 h1:rnbFZ7voy2JBlUfMbfyqArX2FYaLNpDhccGFC3qW83A=
 github.com/fluxcd/pkg/ssh v0.0.5/go.mod h1:7jXPdXZpc0ttMNz2kD9QuMi3RNn/e0DOFbj0Tij/+Hs=
 github.com/fluxcd/pkg/untar v0.0.5 h1:UGI3Ch1UIEIaqQvMicmImL1s9npQa64DJ/ozqHKB7gk=
 github.com/fluxcd/pkg/untar v0.0.5/go.mod h1:O6V9+rtl8c1mHBafgqFlJN6zkF1HS5SSYn7RpQJ/nfw=
+github.com/fluxcd/pkg/version v0.0.1 h1:/8asQoDXSThz3csiwi4Qo8Zb6blAxLXbtxNgeMJ9bCg=
+github.com/fluxcd/pkg/version v0.0.1/go.mod h1:WAF4FEEA9xyhngF8TDxg3UPu5fA1qhEYV8Pmi2Il01Q=
 github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api v0.8.0 h1:jOgeOwCLXzmjinRiDT7e/IuSB7WNZMgrUwMLJm09K/o=
 github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api v0.8.0/go.mod h1:u2sdc/QDm0tzXHL7mZVj928hc3MMU+4mKCuAQg+94Bk=
 github.com/flynn/go-shlex v0.0.0-20150515145356-3f9db97f8568 h1:BHsljHzVlRcyQhjrss6TZTdY2VfCqZPbv5k3iBFa2ZQ=