diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fb69b124e9e..a7298b16472 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ COMPONENTS_DIR=openlibrary/components
 OSP_DUMP_LOCATION=/solr-updater-data/osp_totals.db
 
 
-.PHONY: all clean distclean git css js components lit-components i18n lint frontend
+.PHONY: all clean distclean git css js components lit-components i18n lint frontend check-solr
 
 all: git css js components lit-components i18n
 
@@ -75,6 +75,24 @@ reindex-solr:
 	PYTHONPATH=$(PWD) python ./scripts/solr_builder/solr_builder/index_subjects.py place
 	PYTHONPATH=$(PWD) python ./scripts/solr_builder/solr_builder/index_subjects.py time
 
+check-solr:
+	@RUNNING=$$(curl -sf http://localhost:8983/solr/admin/info/system 2>/dev/null | python -c "import json,sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['lucene']['solr-spec-version'])" 2>/dev/null) || { echo "Solr is not running or not reachable at http://localhost:8983"; exit 1; }; \
+	EXPECTED=$$(grep 'image: solr:' compose.yaml | grep -oE '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | head -1); \
+	if [ -z "$$EXPECTED" ]; then \
+		echo "Could not determine expected Solr version from compose.yaml"; exit 1; \
+	fi; \
+	RUNNING_MAJOR=$$(echo "$$RUNNING" | cut -d. -f1); \
+	EXPECTED_MAJOR=$$(echo "$$EXPECTED" | cut -d. -f1); \
+	if [ "$$RUNNING_MAJOR" != "$$EXPECTED_MAJOR" ]; then \
+		echo "⚠️  Solr version mismatch:"; \
+		echo "   Running:  $$RUNNING"; \
+		echo "   Expected: $$EXPECTED (from compose.yaml)"; \
+		echo "   Fix: docker compose down -v && docker compose up -d"; \
+		exit 1; \
+	else \
+		echo "✓ Solr version OK ($$RUNNING)"; \
+	fi
+
 lint:
 	# See the pyproject.toml file for ruff's settings
 	python -m ruff check .
diff --git a/docker/ol-local-solr-start.sh b/docker/ol-local-solr-start.sh
index 65e81c087e9..b946c67bf45 100755
--- a/docker/ol-local-solr-start.sh
+++ b/docker/ol-local-solr-start.sh
@@ -31,12 +31,22 @@ if [ -f "$OL_SCHEMA_FILE" ] && [ -f "$SOLR_SCHEMA_FILE" ]; then
         echo "${PREFIX} Schema files has been updated. Attempting to resolve by deleting and recreating Solr core..."
 
         # Start Solr in background (on tmp port 8989)
+        # Use timeout to avoid hanging if the data volume is incompatible with the current Solr major version
         TMP_SOLR_PORT=8989
-        solr start -p $TMP_SOLR_PORT
-        # Wait for solr core to be ready for searching
-        until curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "http://localhost:${TMP_SOLR_PORT}/solr/${CORE_NAME}/select?q=*:*&rows=0&wt=json" | grep -q "200"; do
-            sleep 1;
-        done
+        SOLR_VERSION=$(solr --version 2>/dev/null | grep -oE '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | head -1 || echo "unknown")
+        if ! timeout 60 bash -c "
+            solr start -p $TMP_SOLR_PORT
+            until curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' \
+              'http://localhost:${TMP_SOLR_PORT}/solr/${CORE_NAME}/select?q=*:*&rows=0&wt=json' \
+              | grep -q '200'; do sleep 1; done
+        "; then
+            echo "${PREFIX} ERROR: Solr ${SOLR_VERSION} failed to start with the existing data volume."
+            echo "${PREFIX} This usually means the data volume was written by an older Solr major version."
+            echo "${PREFIX} Action required: docker compose down -v && docker compose up -d"
+            echo "${PREFIX} See: https://docs.openlibrary.org/advanced/solr.html#making-changes-to-solr-config"
+            solr stop -p $TMP_SOLR_PORT 2>/dev/null || true
+            exit 1
+        fi
 
         TOTAL_SOLR_DOCS=$(curl -s "http://localhost:${TMP_SOLR_PORT}/solr/${CORE_NAME}/select?q=*:*&rows=0&wt=json" | grep -oE '"numFound":[0-9]+' | grep -oE '[0-9]+')
         echo "${PREFIX} Current Solr core has $TOTAL_SOLR_DOCS documents"