diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index 679b2cb..5b05972 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import { Command } from 'commander'
 import { existsSync, mkdirSync } from 'fs'
 import { capture, run } from '~/shell'
-import { exit, parseAndRemoveWildcardOptions, pp } from '~/utils'
-import icons from '~/icons'
+import { exit, parseAndRemoveWildcardOptions, pp, requireDockerVersion } from '~/utils'
 import { StaxConfig } from '~/types'
+import icons from '~/icons'
 import Stax from '~/stax'
 import * as path from 'path'
 import tmp from 'tmp'
@@ -217,6 +217,8 @@ program.command('setup')
   .option('--progress <progress>', 'Set type of progress output')
   .description('Setup an application')
   .action(async (location, options) => {
+    requireDockerVersion(27.0, 2.29)
+
     if (location) {
       const app = await stax.setup({ source: location, ...options }, { ...options, overrides: overrides })
       console.log('\n' + app.installedMessage())
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index c233968..fecde52 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { existsSync, statSync } from 'fs'
+import { capture } from '~/shell'
 import tmp from 'tmp'
 import icons from './icons'
 import yaml from 'js-yaml'
@@ -442,3 +443,19 @@ export function deepMapWithKeys(
 
   return Object.fromEntries(entries)
 }
+
+export function requireDockerVersion(minDockerVersion: number, minComposeVersion: number) {
+  const dockerVersion = capture('docker version --format "{{.Server.Version}}"').trim()
+  const [dockerMajor, dockerMinor] = (dockerVersion || '').split('.')
+
+  if (!dockerVersion || parseFloat(`${dockerMajor}.${dockerMinor}`) < minDockerVersion)
+    return exit(1, { message: `Docker version >= ${minDockerVersion} required. Found: ${dockerVersion || 'not installed'}` })
+
+  const composeVersion = capture('docker compose version --short').trim()
+  const [composeMajor, composeMinor] = (composeVersion || '').split('.')
+
+  if (!composeVersion ||
+      parseFloat(`${composeMajor}.${composeMinor}`) < minComposeVersion)
+
+  return exit(1, { message: `Docker Compose version >=${minComposeVersion}.0 required. Found: ${composeVersion || 'not installed'}` })
+}