diff --git a/tools/terraform-bundle/README.md b/tools/terraform-bundle/README.md
index 5d6bf103b..a75fa7726 100644
--- a/tools/terraform-bundle/README.md
+++ b/tools/terraform-bundle/README.md
@@ -32,6 +32,15 @@ $ go install ./tools/terraform-bundle
 This will install `terraform-bundle` in `$GOPATH/bin`, which is assumed by
 the rest of this README to be in `PATH`.
 
+`terraform-bundle` is a repackaging of the module installation functionality
+from Terraform itself, so for best results you should build from the tag
+relating to the version of Terraform you plan to use. There is some slack in
+this requirement due to the fact that the module installation behavior changes
+rarely, but please note that in particular bundles for versions of
+Terraform before v0.12 must be built from a `terraform-bundle` built against
+a Terraform v0.11 tag at the latest, since Terraform v0.12 installs plugins
+in a different way that is not compatible.
+
 ## Usage
 
 `terraform-bundle` uses a simple configuration file to define what should
diff --git a/tools/terraform-bundle/config.go b/tools/terraform-bundle/config.go
index 8f493e0c5..df67c5bcc 100644
--- a/tools/terraform-bundle/config.go
+++ b/tools/terraform-bundle/config.go
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/plugin/discovery"
 )
 
+var zeroTwelve = discovery.ConstraintStr(">= 0.12.0").MustParse()
+
 type Config struct {
 	Terraform TerraformConfig                      `hcl:"terraform"`
 	Providers map[string][]discovery.ConstraintStr `hcl:"providers"`
@@ -42,9 +44,14 @@ func (c *Config) validate() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("terraform.version is required")
 	}
 
-	if _, err := c.Terraform.Version.Parse(); err != nil {
+	var v discovery.Version
+	var err error
+	if v, err = c.Terraform.Version.Parse(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("terraform.version: %s", err)
 	}
+	if !zeroTwelve.Allows(v) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("this version of terraform-bundle can only build bundles for Terraform v0.12 and later; build terraform-bundle from the v0.11 branch or a v0.11.* tag to construct bundles for earlier versions")
+	}
 
 	if c.Providers == nil {
 		c.Providers = map[string][]discovery.ConstraintStr{}
diff --git a/tools/terraform-bundle/main.go b/tools/terraform-bundle/main.go
index 6556c5a75..1e1ba08f8 100644
--- a/tools/terraform-bundle/main.go
+++ b/tools/terraform-bundle/main.go
@@ -33,16 +33,14 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 
-	"io/ioutil"
-
+	tfversion "github.com/hashicorp/terraform/version"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/cli"
 )
 
-const Version = "0.0.1"
-
 func main() {
 	ui := &cli.ColoredUi{
 		OutputColor: cli.UiColorNone,
@@ -64,7 +62,7 @@ func main() {
 		log.SetOutput(ioutil.Discard)
 	}
 
-	c := cli.NewCLI("terraform-bundle", Version)
+	c := cli.NewCLI("terraform-bundle", tfversion.Version)
 	c.Args = os.Args[1:]
 	c.Commands = map[string]cli.CommandFactory{
 		"package": func() (cli.Command, error) {
diff --git a/tools/terraform-bundle/package.go b/tools/terraform-bundle/package.go
index 62ee497bd..62ebc8f7c 100644
--- a/tools/terraform-bundle/package.go
+++ b/tools/terraform-bundle/package.go
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ func (c *PackageCommand) Run(args []string) int {
 
 	if err != nil {
 		c.ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Failed to fetch core package from %s: %s", coreZipURL, err))
+		return 1
 	}
 
 	c.ui.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Fetching 3rd party plugins in directory: %s", pluginDir))