diff --git a/doc/runtime/tracing.md b/doc/runtime/tracing.md
index 72f07c4..4f233cd 100644
--- a/doc/runtime/tracing.md
+++ b/doc/runtime/tracing.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ trace is correct.
 
 ## Trace processes and threads
 
+- Call `ovni_version_check()` once before calling any ovni function.
+
 - Call `ovni_proc_init()` when a new process begins the execution.
 
 - Call `ovni_thread_init()` when a new thread begins the execution
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 2875534..4b4544b 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ add_library(ovni SHARED
   parson.c
 )
 
+set_target_properties(ovni PROPERTIES
+  VERSION 1.0.0
+  SOVERSION 1)
+
 target_include_directories(ovni PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
 
 configure_file("config.h.in" "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/config.h" )
diff --git a/src/ovni.c b/src/ovni.c
index 82a00af..4de2a2c 100644
--- a/src/ovni.c
+++ b/src/ovni.c
@@ -24,6 +24,88 @@ struct ovni_rproc rproc = {0};
 /* Data per thread */
 _Thread_local struct ovni_rthread rthread = {0};
 
+static int
+parse_version(const char *version, int tuple[3])
+{
+	char buf[64];
+
+	if (strlen(version) >= 64) {
+		err("parse_version: version too long: %s\n", version);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	strcpy(buf, version);
+
+	char *str = buf;
+	char *which[] = { "major", "minor", "patch" };
+	char *delim[] = { ".", ".", ".-" };
+	char *save = NULL;
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+		char *num = strtok_r(str, delim[i], &save);
+
+		/* Subsequent calls need NULL as string */
+		str = NULL;
+
+		if (num == NULL) {
+			err("parse_version: missing %s number: %s\n",
+					which[i], version);
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		errno = 0;
+		char *endptr = NULL;
+		int v = (int) strtol(num, &endptr, 10);
+
+		if (errno != 0 || endptr == num || endptr[0] != '\0') {
+			err("parse_version: failed to parse %s number: %s\n",
+					which[i], version);
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		if (v < 0) {
+			err("parse_version: invalid negative %s number: %s\n",
+					which[i], version);
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		tuple[i] = v;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+void ovni_version_check_str(const char *version)
+{
+	if (version == NULL)
+		die("ovni version string is NULL\n");
+
+	int provided[3];
+	int expected[3];
+
+	if (parse_version(version, provided) != 0)
+		die("failed to parse provided version \"%s\"\n", version);
+
+	if (parse_version(OVNI_LIB_VERSION, expected) != 0)
+		die("failed to parse expected version \"%s\"\n", OVNI_LIB_VERSION);
+
+	/* Match the major */
+	if (provided[0] != expected[0]) {
+		die("ovni major version mismatch: found %d (%s), expected %d (%s)\n",
+				provided[0], version,
+				expected[0], OVNI_LIB_VERSION);
+	}
+
+	/* Only fail if the minor is older */
+	if (provided[1] < expected[1]) {
+		die("ovni minor version too old: found %d (%s), expected %d (%s)\n",
+				provided[1], version,
+				expected[1], OVNI_LIB_VERSION);
+	}
+
+	/* Ignore the patch number */
+}
+
 static void
 create_trace_stream(void)
 {
diff --git a/src/ovni.h b/src/ovni.h
index 739ce96..3034ab5 100644
--- a/src/ovni.h
+++ b/src/ovni.h
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ typedef struct json_value_t JSON_Value;
 #define OVNI_STREAM_VERSION 1
 #define OVNI_MODEL_VERSION "O1 V1 T1 M1 D1 K1 61"
 
+/* Follow https://semver.org rules for versioning */
+#define OVNI_LIB_VERSION "1.0.0"
+
 /* ----------------------- common ------------------------ */
 
 enum ovni_ev_flags {
@@ -120,6 +123,9 @@ struct ovni_rproc {
 	JSON_Value *meta;
 };
 
+#define ovni_version_check() ovni_version_check_str(OVNI_LIB_VERSION)
+void ovni_version_check_str(const char *version);
+
 void ovni_proc_init(int app, const char *loom, int pid);
 
 /* Sets the MPI rank of the current process and the number of total nranks */
diff --git a/test/emu/instr.h b/test/emu/instr.h
index 24678bc..3241df0 100644
--- a/test/emu/instr.h
+++ b/test/emu/instr.h
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ instr_start(int rank, int nranks)
 
 	sprintf(rankname, "%s.%d", hostname, rank);
 
+	ovni_version_check();
 	ovni_proc_init(1, rankname, getpid());
 	ovni_proc_set_rank(rank, nranks);
 	ovni_thread_init(gettid());
diff --git a/test/emu/ovni/CMakeLists.txt b/test/emu/ovni/CMakeLists.txt
index e0327d7..b6f281a 100644
--- a/test/emu/ovni/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/emu/ovni/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,3 +14,5 @@ ovni_test(sort-first-and-full-ring.c SORT
 ovni_test(burst-stats.c REGEX "burst stats: median 33 ns, avg 33\.0 ns, max 33 ns")
 ovni_test(mp-simple.c MP)
 ovni_test(mp-rank.c MP)
+ovni_test(version-good.c)
+ovni_test(version-bad.c SHOULD_FAIL REGEX "version mismatch")
diff --git a/test/emu/ovni/version-bad.c b/test/emu/ovni/version-bad.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f49399c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/emu/ovni/version-bad.c
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+/* Copyright (c) 2021-2022 Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later */
+
+#include "ovni.h"
+
+#undef OVNI_LIB_VERSION
+#define OVNI_LIB_VERSION "0.0.0" /* Cause the major to fail */
+
+int
+main(void)
+{
+	/* Should fail */
+	ovni_version_check();
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/test/emu/ovni/version-good.c b/test/emu/ovni/version-good.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf076a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/emu/ovni/version-good.c
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+/* Copyright (c) 2021-2022 Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later */
+
+#include "instr_ovni.h"
+
+int
+main(void)
+{
+	ovni_version_check();
+
+	/* Create a dummy trace */
+	instr_start(0, 1);
+	instr_end();
+
+	return 0;
+}