diff --git a/cmd/compile.go b/cmd/compile.go
index b7f50d2..fc5275e 100644
--- a/cmd/compile.go
+++ b/cmd/compile.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/arduino/go-paths-helper"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	semver "go.bug.st/relaxed-semver"
 )
 
 var fqbn string
@@ -90,7 +91,8 @@ func compileSketch(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	}
 	var unmarshalledOutput map[string]interface{}
 	json.Unmarshal(cmdOutput, &unmarshalledOutput)
-	logrus.Infof("arduino-cli version: %s", unmarshalledOutput["VersionString"])
+	currentCliVersion := fmt.Sprint(unmarshalledOutput["VersionString"])
+	checkCliVersion(currentCliVersion)
 
 	// let's check if gcc-ar version
 	cmdOutput, err = exec.Command("gcc-ar", "--version").CombinedOutput()
@@ -144,6 +146,24 @@ func compileSketch(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	createLib(sketchName, buildMcu, fqbn, returnJson, objFilePaths)
 }
 
+// checkCliVersion will check if the version of the arduino-cli used is the correct one.
+// It will skip the check if the version comes from a non stable release
+// The version must be > 0.20.2
+func checkCliVersion(currentCliVersion string) {
+	logrus.Infof("arduino-cli version: %s", currentCliVersion)
+	version, err := semver.Parse(currentCliVersion)
+	if err == nil {
+		// do the check
+		incompatibleVersion, _ := semver.Parse("0.20.2")
+		if version.LessThanOrEqual(incompatibleVersion) {
+			logrus.Fatalf("please use a version > %s of the arduino-cli, installed version: %s", incompatibleVersion, version)
+		}
+	} // we continue the execution, it means that the version could be one of:
+	// - git-snapshot - local build using task build
+	// - nightly-<date> - nightly build
+	// - test-<hash>-git-snapshot - tester builds generated by the CI system
+}
+
 // parseCliCompileOutput function takes cmdOutToParse as argument,
 // cmdOutToParse is the json output captured from the command run
 // the function extracts and returns the paths of the .o files
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 1d8192e..8afdb0d 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ require (
 
 require (
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 // indirect
+	go.bug.st/relaxed-semver v0.0.0-20190922224835-391e10178d18 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20211216021012-1d35b9e2eb4e // indirect
 )
 
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index f454faf..4c6f7ef 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -332,6 +332,8 @@ github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.1.27/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9de
 github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.1.32/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9decYSb74=
 github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.2.1/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9decYSb74=
 github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.3.5/go.mod h1:mwnBkeHKe2W/ZEtQ+71ViKU8L12m81fl3OWwC1Zlc8k=
+go.bug.st/relaxed-semver v0.0.0-20190922224835-391e10178d18 h1:F1qxtaFuewctYc/SsHRn+Q7Dtwi+yJGPgVq8YLtQz98=
+go.bug.st/relaxed-semver v0.0.0-20190922224835-391e10178d18/go.mod h1:Cx1VqMtEhE9pIkEyUj3LVVVPkv89dgW8aCKrRPDR/uE=
 go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.5.1/go.mod h1:cbVKeC6lCfl7j/8jBhAK6aIYO9XOjdptoxU/nLQcPvs=
 go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.5.1/go.mod h1:IJHfcCEKxYu1Os13ZdwCwIUTUVGYTSAM3YSwc9/Ac1g=
 go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v2 v2.305.1/go.mod h1:pMEacxZW7o8pg4CrFE7pquyCJJzZvkvdD2RibOCCCGs=