diff --git a/examples/default.yaml b/examples/default.yaml
index da6f06ede79..13c7a2aef66 100644
--- a/examples/default.yaml
+++ b/examples/default.yaml
@@ -5,12 +5,24 @@
 # Default values in this YAML file are specified by `null` instead of Lima's "builtin default" values,
 # so they can be overridden by the $LIMA_HOME/_config/default.yaml mechanism documented at the end of this file.
 
+# A template should specify the minimum Lima version required to parse this template correctly.
+# It should not be set if the minimum version is less than 1.0.0
+# 🟢 Builtin default: not set
+minimumLimaVersion: null
+
 # VM type: "qemu", "vz" (on macOS 13 and later), or "default".
 # The vmType can be specified only on creating the instance.
 # The vmType of existing instances cannot be changed.
 # 🟢 Builtin default: "vz" (on macOS 13.5 and later), "qemu" (on others)
 vmType: null
 
+vmOpts:
+  qemu:
+    # Minimum version of QEMU required to create an instance of this template.
+    # Will be ignored if the vmType is not "qemu"
+    # 🟢 Builtin default: not set
+    minimumVersion: null
+
 # OS: "Linux".
 # 🟢 Builtin default: "Linux"
 os: null
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go b/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go
index 24e9b3c783d..ee02018e3ff 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 type LimaYAML struct {
+	MinimumLimaVersion *string       `yaml:"minimumLimaVersion,omitempty" json:"minimumLimaVersion,omitempty"`
 	VMType             *VMType       `yaml:"vmType,omitempty" json:"vmType,omitempty"`
+	VMOpts             VMOpts        `yaml:"vmOpts,omitempty" json:"vmOpts,omitempty"`
 	OS                 *OS           `yaml:"os,omitempty" json:"os,omitempty"`
 	Arch               *Arch         `yaml:"arch,omitempty" json:"arch,omitempty"`
 	Images             []Image       `yaml:"images" json:"images"` // REQUIRED
@@ -72,6 +74,14 @@ const (
 	WSL2 VMType = "wsl2"
 )
 
+type VMOpts struct {
+	QEMU QEMUOpts `yaml:"qemu,omitempty" json:"qemu,omitempty"`
+}
+
+type QEMUOpts struct {
+	MinimumVersion *string `yaml:"minimumVersion,omitempty" json:"minimumVersion,omitempty"`
+}
+
 type Rosetta struct {
 	Enabled *bool `yaml:"enabled,omitempty" json:"enabled,omitempty"`
 	BinFmt  *bool `yaml:"binfmt,omitempty" json:"binfmt,omitempty"`
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/validate.go b/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
index b746535e877..a647f146c20 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
@@ -12,10 +12,13 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"unicode"
 
+	"github.com/coreos/go-semver/semver"
 	"github.com/docker/go-units"
 	"github.com/lima-vm/lima/pkg/localpathutil"
 	"github.com/lima-vm/lima/pkg/networks"
 	"github.com/lima-vm/lima/pkg/osutil"
+	"github.com/lima-vm/lima/pkg/version"
+	"github.com/lima-vm/lima/pkg/version/versionutil"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
@@ -43,6 +46,23 @@ func validateFileObject(f File, fieldName string) error {
 }
 
 func Validate(y *LimaYAML, warn bool) error {
+	if y.MinimumLimaVersion != nil {
+		if _, err := versionutil.Parse(*y.MinimumLimaVersion); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("field `minimumLimaVersion` must be a semvar value, got %q: %w", *y.MinimumLimaVersion, err)
+		}
+		limaVersion, err := versionutil.Parse(version.Version)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("can't parse builtin Lima version %q: %w", version.Version, err)
+		}
+		if versionutil.GreaterThan(*y.MinimumLimaVersion, limaVersion.String()) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("template requires Lima version %q; this is only %q", *y.MinimumLimaVersion, limaVersion.String())
+		}
+	}
+	if y.VMOpts.QEMU.MinimumVersion != nil {
+		if _, err := semver.NewVersion(*y.VMOpts.QEMU.MinimumVersion); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("field `vmOpts.qemu.minimumVersion` must be a semvar value, got %q: %w", *y.VMOpts.QEMU.MinimumVersion, err)
+		}
+	}
 	switch *y.OS {
 	case LINUX:
 	default:
diff --git a/pkg/qemu/qemu.go b/pkg/qemu/qemu.go
index dc779cb498d..27624034551 100644
--- a/pkg/qemu/qemu.go
+++ b/pkg/qemu/qemu.go
@@ -496,6 +496,9 @@ func Cmdline(ctx context.Context, cfg Config) (exe string, args []string, err er
 		if version.LessThan(*semver.New(MinimumQemuVersion)) {
 			logrus.Fatalf("QEMU %v is too old, %v or later required", version, MinimumQemuVersion)
 		}
+		if y.VMOpts.QEMU.MinimumVersion != nil && version.LessThan(*semver.New(*y.VMOpts.QEMU.MinimumVersion)) {
+			logrus.Fatalf("QEMU %v is too old, template requires %q or later", version, *y.VMOpts.QEMU.MinimumVersion)
+		}
 		if runtime.GOOS == "darwin" && runtime.GOARCH == "arm64" && version.Equal(*semver.New("8.2.0")) {
 			logrus.Fatal("QEMU 8.2.0 is no longer supported on ARM Mac due to <https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/issues/1990>. " +
 				"Please upgrade QEMU to v8.2.1 (or downgrade to v8.1.x).")