diff --git a/pkg/lint/recipe.go b/pkg/lint/recipe.go
index ee9a15c1..3c6d6c5e 100644
--- a/pkg/lint/recipe.go
+++ b/pkg/lint/recipe.go
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import (
 	recipePkg "coopcloud.tech/abra/pkg/recipe"
 	"coopcloud.tech/tagcmp"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/reference"
+	"github.com/go-git/go-git/v5"
+	"github.com/go-git/go-git/v5/plumbing"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
@@ -151,6 +153,13 @@ var LintRules = map[string][]LintRule{
 			HowToResolve: "vendor config versions in an abra.sh",
 			Function:     LintAbraShVendors,
 		},
+		{
+			Ref:          "R014",
+			Level:        "error",
+			Description:  "invalid lightweight tag used for recipe version",
+			HowToResolve: "replace tag with annotated version, see operator docs",
+			Function:     LintValidTags,
+		},
 	},
 }
 
@@ -391,3 +400,34 @@ func LintHasRecipeRepo(recipe recipe.Recipe) (bool, error) {
 
 	return true, nil
 }
+
+func LintValidTags(recipe recipe.Recipe) (bool, error) {
+	recipeDir := path.Join(config.RECIPES_DIR, recipe.Name)
+
+	repo, err := git.PlainOpen(recipeDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("unable to open %s: %s", recipeDir, err)
+	}
+
+	iter, err := repo.Tags()
+	if err != nil {
+		logrus.Fatalf("unable to list local tags for %s", recipe.Name)
+	}
+
+	if err := iter.ForEach(func(ref *plumbing.Reference) error {
+		_, err := repo.TagObject(ref.Hash())
+		if err != nil {
+			switch err {
+			case plumbing.ErrObjectNotFound:
+				return fmt.Errorf("invalid lightweight tag detected")
+			default:
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}); err != nil {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+
+	return true, nil
+}