diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 96599dc18..f7f015276 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ RELEASE  := 1
 STATIC   := 0
 
 NO_DBG_SYMBOLS := 0
+SKIP_VERSION_CHECK := 0
 
 FLAGS ?=
 
@@ -27,6 +28,9 @@ ifeq ($(API_ONLY), 1)
   FLAGS += -Dapi_only
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(SKIP_VERSION_CHECK), 1)
+  FLAGS += -Dskip_version_check
+endif
 
 # -----------------------
 #  Main
@@ -103,11 +107,12 @@ help:
 	@echo ""
 	@echo "Build options available for this Makefile:"
 	@echo ""
-	@echo "  RELEASE          Make a release build            (Default: 1)"
-	@echo "  STATIC           Link libraries statically       (Default: 0)"
+	@echo "  RELEASE              Make a release build                     (Default: 1)"
+	@echo "  STATIC               Link libraries statically                (Default: 0)"
 	@echo ""
-	@echo "  API_ONLY         Build invidious without a GUI   (Default: 0)"
-	@echo "  NO_DBG_SYMBOLS   Strip debug symbols             (Default: 0)"
+	@echo "  API_ONLY             Build invidious without a GUI            (Default: 0)"
+	@echo "  NO_DBG_SYMBOLS       Strip debug symbols                      (Default: 0)"
+	@echo "  SKIP_VERSION_CHECK   Skips the Crystal compiler version check (Default: 0)"
 
 
 
diff --git a/shard.yml b/shard.yml
index 779a25699..0e62f6f6d 100644
--- a/shard.yml
+++ b/shard.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ targets:
     main: src/invidious.cr
 
 description: |
-   Invidious is an alternative front-end to YouTube 
+   Invidious is an alternative front-end to YouTube
 
 dependencies:
   pg:
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ development_dependencies:
     github: crystal-ameba/ameba
     version: ~> 1.6.1
 
-crystal: ">= 1.10.0, < 2.0.0"
+crystal: ">= 1.14.1, < 2.0.0"
 
 license: AGPL-3.0-only
 
diff --git a/src/invidious.cr b/src/invidious.cr
index 09fbb6244..cc65dde0e 100644
--- a/src/invidious.cr
+++ b/src/invidious.cr
@@ -50,6 +50,27 @@ require "./invidious/routes/**"
 require "./invidious/jobs/base_job"
 require "./invidious/jobs/*"
 
+# Show a nice message in case the current Crystal compiler version is unsupoported```
+# encouraging the user compiling Invidious to update it```
+# version.
+{% begin %}
+  # `-Dskip_version_check` compile-time flag, for development purposes
+  # or weird installations that lack the `shard.yml` file when compiling
+  # Invidious.
+  {% if !flag?(:skip_version_check) %}
+    {% if file_exists?("#{__DIR__}/../shard.yml") %}
+      {% shard_yml = read_file("#{__DIR__}/../shard.yml") %}
+      {% crystal_constraint = shard_yml.split('\n').find(&.starts_with?("crystal:")) %}
+      {% minimum_version = crystal_constraint.split('"')[1].split(",").first.split(">=").last.strip %}
+      {% if compare_versions(Crystal::VERSION, minimum_version) < 0 %}
+        {{ raise "Crystal version #{minimum_version} or newer is required to build Invidious. \
+          You currently have Crystal version #{Crystal::VERSION} installed. \
+          We recommend that you install it following the way that the team behind the Crystal compiler itself recommend for your OS, see: https://crystal-lang.org/install/" }}
+      {% end %}
+    {% end %}
+  {% end %}
+{% end %}
+
 # Declare the base namespace for invidious
 module Invidious
 end