diff --git a/client/tailscale/required_version.go b/client/tailscale/required_version.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..186e688d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/tailscale/required_version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2022 Tailscale Inc & AUTHORS All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+//go:build !go1.18
+// +build !go1.18
+
+package tailscale
+
+func init() {
+	you_need_Go_1_18_to_compile_Tailscale()
+}
diff --git a/client/tailscale/tailscale.go b/client/tailscale/tailscale.go
index 74bf7e148..778c32655 100644
--- a/client/tailscale/tailscale.go
+++ b/client/tailscale/tailscale.go
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
+//go:build go1.18
+// +build go1.18
+
 // Package tailscale contains Tailscale client code.
 package tailscale
 
diff --git a/cmd/tailscaled/debug.go b/cmd/tailscaled/debug.go
index e51111c90..d4e6df496 100644
--- a/cmd/tailscaled/debug.go
+++ b/cmd/tailscaled/debug.go
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
+//go:build go1.18
+// +build go1.18
+
 package main
 
 import (
diff --git a/cmd/tailscaled/install_darwin.go b/cmd/tailscaled/install_darwin.go
index 2a4132852..d5d076eb9 100644
--- a/cmd/tailscaled/install_darwin.go
+++ b/cmd/tailscaled/install_darwin.go
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
+//go:build go1.18
+// +build go1.18
+
 package main
 
 import (
diff --git a/cmd/tailscaled/install_windows.go b/cmd/tailscaled/install_windows.go
index 3350779d1..a1e12ee3f 100644
--- a/cmd/tailscaled/install_windows.go
+++ b/cmd/tailscaled/install_windows.go
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
+//go:build go1.18
+// +build go1.18
+
 package main
 
 import (
diff --git a/cmd/tailscaled/proxy.go b/cmd/tailscaled/proxy.go
index cbd6ab6e1..e0668fec8 100644
--- a/cmd/tailscaled/proxy.go
+++ b/cmd/tailscaled/proxy.go
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
+//go:build go1.18
+// +build go1.18
+
 // HTTP proxy code
 
 package main
diff --git a/cmd/tailscaled/required_version.go b/cmd/tailscaled/required_version.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..540a4854c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/tailscaled/required_version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2022 Tailscale Inc & AUTHORS All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+//go:build !go1.18
+// +build !go1.18
+
+package main
+
+func init() {
+	you_need_Go_1_18_to_compile_Tailscale()
+}
diff --git a/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled.go b/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled.go
index aa563b11a..5c3a8435e 100644
--- a/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled.go
+++ b/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled.go
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
+//go:build go1.18
+// +build go1.18
+
 // The tailscaled program is the Tailscale client daemon. It's configured
 // and controlled via the tailscale CLI program.
 //
diff --git a/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_bird.go b/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_bird.go
index 2be2a1263..97f5d3f5c 100644
--- a/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_bird.go
+++ b/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_bird.go
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
-//go:build linux || darwin || freebsd || openbsd
+//go:build go1.18 && (linux || darwin || freebsd || openbsd)
+// +build go1.18
 // +build linux darwin freebsd openbsd
 
 package main
diff --git a/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_notwindows.go b/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_notwindows.go
index 3e5855d77..ee0bd5f16 100644
--- a/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_notwindows.go
+++ b/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_notwindows.go
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
-//go:build !windows
-// +build !windows
+//go:build !windows && go1.18
+// +build !windows,go1.18
 
 package main // import "tailscale.com/cmd/tailscaled"
 
diff --git a/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_windows.go b/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_windows.go
index f017c9026..771a8b18f 100644
--- a/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_windows.go
+++ b/cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled_windows.go
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
+//go:build go1.18
+// +build go1.18
+
 package main // import "tailscale.com/cmd/tailscaled"
 
 // TODO: check if administrator, like tswin does.