diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Bytecode/BytecodeWriter.h b/mlir/include/mlir/Bytecode/BytecodeWriter.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Bytecode/BytecodeWriter.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Bytecode/BytecodeWriter.h
@@ -40,10 +40,9 @@
   /// Return an instance of the internal implementation.
   const Impl &getImpl() const { return *impl; }
 
-  /// Set the desired bytecode version to emit. This function clamps the version
-  /// to the existing version if larger than existing. The desired version may
-  /// not be used depending on the features used and the actual version required
-  /// is returned by bytecode writer entry point.
+  /// Set the desired bytecode version to emit. This method does not validate
+  /// the desired version. The bytecode writer entry point will return failure
+  /// if it cannot emit the desired version.
   void setDesiredBytecodeVersion(int64_t bytecodeVersion);
 
   /// Get the set desired bytecode version to emit.
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Bytecode/Writer/BytecodeWriter.cpp b/mlir/lib/Bytecode/Writer/BytecodeWriter.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Bytecode/Writer/BytecodeWriter.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Bytecode/Writer/BytecodeWriter.cpp
@@ -65,9 +65,7 @@
 }
 
 void BytecodeWriterConfig::setDesiredBytecodeVersion(int64_t bytecodeVersion) {
-  // Clamp to current version.
-  impl->bytecodeVersion =
-      std::min<int64_t>(bytecodeVersion, bytecode::kVersion);
+  impl->bytecodeVersion = bytecodeVersion;
 }
 
 int64_t BytecodeWriterConfig::getDesiredBytecodeVersion() const {
@@ -630,6 +628,13 @@
   emitter.emitString("ML\xefR");
 
   // Emit the bytecode version.
+  if (config.bytecodeVersion < bytecode::kMinSupportedVersion ||
+      config.bytecodeVersion > bytecode::kVersion)
+    return rootOp->emitError()
+           << "unsupported version requested " << config.bytecodeVersion
+           << ", must be in range ["
+           << static_cast<int64_t>(bytecode::kMinSupportedVersion) << ", "
+           << static_cast<int64_t>(bytecode::kVersion) << ']';
   emitter.emitVarInt(config.bytecodeVersion);
 
   // Emit the producer.
diff --git a/mlir/test/Bytecode/versioning/versioned_bytecode.mlir b/mlir/test/Bytecode/versioning/versioned_bytecode.mlir
--- a/mlir/test/Bytecode/versioning/versioned_bytecode.mlir
+++ b/mlir/test/Bytecode/versioning/versioned_bytecode.mlir
@@ -12,3 +12,14 @@
 // RUN: mlir-opt %S/versioned-op-1.12.mlirbc -o %t.2 && \
 // RUN: diff %t.1 %t.2
 
+//===--------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+// Test invalid versions
+//===--------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+// RUN: not mlir-opt %S/versioned-op-1.12.mlirbc -emit-bytecode \
+// RUN:   -emit-bytecode-version=-1 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --check-prefix=ERR_VERSION_NEGATIVE
+// ERR_VERSION_NEGATIVE: unsupported version requested -1, must be in range [{{[0-9]+}}, {{[0-9]+}}]
+
+// RUN: not mlir-opt %S/versioned-op-1.12.mlirbc -emit-bytecode \
+// RUN:   -emit-bytecode-version=999 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --check-prefix=ERR_VERSION_FUTURE
+// ERR_VERSION_FUTURE: unsupported version requested 999, must be in range [{{[0-9]+}}, {{[0-9]+}}]