diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9ca7947f1b..58e65aa776 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ LDFLAGS += -X "github.com/mattermost/mattermost-server/model.BuildDate=$(BUILD_D
 LDFLAGS += -X "github.com/mattermost/mattermost-server/model.BuildHash=$(BUILD_HASH)"
 LDFLAGS += -X "github.com/mattermost/mattermost-server/model.BuildHashEnterprise=$(BUILD_HASH_ENTERPRISE)"
 LDFLAGS += -X "github.com/mattermost/mattermost-server/model.BuildEnterpriseReady=$(BUILD_ENTERPRISE_READY)"
+GO_MAJOR_VERSION = $(shell $(GO) version | cut -c 14- | cut -d' ' -f1 | cut -d'.' -f1)
+GO_MINOR_VERSION = $(shell $(GO) version | cut -c 14- | cut -d' ' -f1 | cut -d'.' -f2)
+MINIMUM_SUPPORTED_GO_MAJOR_VERSION = 1
+MINIMUM_SUPPORTED_GO_MINOR_VERSION = 12
+GO_VERSION_VALIDATION_ERR_MSG = Golang version is not supported, please update to at least $(MINIMUM_SUPPORTED_GO_MAJOR_VERSION).$(MINIMUM_SUPPORTED_GO_MINOR_VERSION)
 
 # GOOS/GOARCH of the build host, used to determine whether we're cross-compiling or not
 BUILDER_GOOS_GOARCH="$(shell $(GO) env GOOS)_$(shell $(GO) env GOARCH)"
@@ -449,7 +454,18 @@ test-data: start-docker ## Add test data to the local instance.
 	@echo Login with a regular account username=user-1 password=user-1
 	@echo ========================================================================
 
-run-server: start-docker ## Starts the server.
+validate-go-version: ## Validates the installed version of go against Mattermost's minimum requirement.
+	@if [ $(GO_MAJOR_VERSION) -gt $(MINIMUM_SUPPORTED_GO_MAJOR_VERSION) ]; then \
+		exit 0 ;\
+	elif [ $(GO_MAJOR_VERSION) -lt $(MINIMUM_SUPPORTED_GO_MAJOR_VERSION) ]; then \
+		echo '$(GO_VERSION_VALIDATION_ERR_MSG)';\
+		exit 1; \
+	elif [ $(GO_MINOR_VERSION) -lt $(MINIMUM_SUPPORTED_GO_MINOR_VERSION) ] ; then \
+		echo '$(GO_VERSION_VALIDATION_ERR_MSG)';\
+		exit 1; \
+	fi
+
+run-server: validate-go-version start-docker ## Starts the server.
 	@echo Running mattermost for development
 
 	mkdir -p $(BUILD_WEBAPP_DIR)/dist/files