diff --git a/scripts/init-submodules-no-riscv-tools-nolog.sh b/scripts/init-submodules-no-riscv-tools-nolog.sh
index 6f9202f0..9d98e6f2 100755
--- a/scripts/init-submodules-no-riscv-tools-nolog.sh
+++ b/scripts/init-submodules-no-riscv-tools-nolog.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,34 @@
 set -e
 set -o pipefail
 
+SKIP_VALIDATE=false
+
+function usage
+{
+    echo "Usage: $0 [--skip-validate]"
+    echo "Initialize Chipyard submodules and setup initial env.sh script."
+    echo ""
+    echo "  --skip-validate    Skip prompt checking for tagged release"
+}
+
+while test $# -gt 0
+do
+   case "$1" in
+        --skip-validate)
+            SKIP_VALIDATE=true;
+            ;;
+        -h | -H | --help)
+            usage
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+        *) echo "ERROR: bad argument $1"
+            usage
+            exit 2
+            ;;
+    esac
+    shift
+done
+
 # Check that git version is at least 1.7.8
 MYGIT=$(git --version)
 MYGIT=${MYGIT#'git version '} # Strip prefix
@@ -17,6 +45,21 @@ if [ "$MINGIT" != "$(echo -e "$MINGIT\n$MYGIT" | sort -V | head -n1)" ]; then
   false
 fi
 
+# before doing anything verify that you are on a release branch/tag
+set +e
+tag=$(git describe --exact-match --tags)
+tag_ret_code=$?
+set -e
+if [ $tag_ret_code -ne 0 ]; then
+    if [ "$SKIP_VALIDATE" = false ]; then
+        read -p "WARNING: You are not on a tagged release of Chipyard. Type \"ok\" to continue: " validate
+        [[ $validate == [oO][kK] ]] || exit 3
+        echo "Setting up non-release Chipyard"
+    fi
+else
+    echo "Setting up Chipyard $tag"
+fi
+
 # On macOS, use GNU readlink from 'coreutils' package in Homebrew/MacPorts
 if [ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ] ; then
     READLINK=greadlink