diff --git a/src/_stop.sh b/src/_stop.sh
index 63ba004..a0008a8 100644
--- a/src/_stop.sh
+++ b/src/_stop.sh
@@ -7,9 +7,27 @@ function mod_stop() {
   title "Attempting to gracefully stop PlexTrac..."
   debug "Stopping API Services..."
 
-  # Before stopping, check if stable is being used and the current image tag for stable is correct
-  if [[ "$UPGRADE_STRATEGY" == "stable" ]]; then
-    debug "Running stable, validating the expected version against current running version"
+  # Before stopping, check if the current image tag matches the image defined by compose files
+  debug "Validating the expected version against current running version"
+  running_backend_version="$(for i in $(compose_client ps plextracapi -q); do docker container inspect "$i" --format json | jq -r '(.[].Config.Labels | ."org.opencontainers.image.version")'; done | sort -u)"
+  running_frontend_version="$(for i in $(compose_client ps plextracnginx -q); do  docker container inspect "$i" --format json | jq -r '(.[].Config.Labels | ."org.opencontainers.image.version")'; done | sort -u)"
+  expected_backend_tag="$(compose_client config | grep image | grep plextracapi | head -n 1 | awk '{print $2}')"
+  expected_frontend_tag="$(compose_client config | grep image | grep plextracnginx | head -n 1 | awk '{print $2}')"
+  expected_backend_version="$(docker image inspect $expected_backend_tag --format json | jq -r '(.[].Config.Labels | ."org.opencontainers.image.version")')"
+  expected_frontend_version="$(docker image inspect $expected_frontend_tag --format json | jq -r '(.[].Config.Labels | ."org.opencontainers.image.version")')"
+
+
+  if [[ "$running_backend_version" != "$expected_backend_version" ]]; then
+    error "The running backend version ${running_backend_version} does not match the expected version (${expected_backend_version})"
+    error "During a system reboot or shutdown, the docker engine normally handles this gracefully and automatically, so using 'plextrac stop' may be unnecessary"
+    die "Since 'plextrac stop' runs a docker compose down, we cannot guarantee a 'plextrac start' will bring up the correct version. Please change UPGRADE_STRATEGY to the current running version ${running_backend_version} or run an update first"
+  fi
+  if [[ "$running_frontend_version" != "$expected_frontend_version" ]]; then
+    error "The running frontend version (${running_frontend_version}) does not match the expected version (${expected_frontend_version})"
+    error "During a system reboot or shutdown, the docker engine normally handles this gracefully and automatically, so using 'plextrac stop' may be unnecessary"
+    die "Since 'plextrac stop' runs a docker compose down, we cannot guarantee a 'plextrac start' will bring up the correct version. Please change UPGRADE_STRATEGY to the current running version ${running_frontend_version} or run an update first"
+  fi
+    debug "Validating the expected version against current running version"
     running_backend_version="$(for i in $(compose_client ps plextracapi -q); do docker container inspect "$i" --format json | jq -r '(.[].Config.Labels | ."org.opencontainers.image.version")'; done | sort -u)"
     running_frontend_version="$(for i in $(compose_client ps plextracnginx -q); do  docker container inspect "$i" --format json | jq -r '(.[].Config.Labels | ."org.opencontainers.image.version")'; done | sort -u)"
     expected_backend_tag="$(compose_client config | grep image | grep plextracapi | head -n 1 | awk '{print $2}')"
@@ -27,7 +45,6 @@ function mod_stop() {
       error "During a system reboot or shutdown, the docker engine normally handles this gracefully and automatically, so using 'plextrac stop' may be unnecessary"
       die "Since 'plextrac stop' runs a docker compose down, we cannot guarantee a 'plextrac start' will bring up the correct version. Please change UPGRADE_STRATEGY to the current running version ${running_frontend_version} or run an update first"
     fi
-  fi
 
   for service in $(container_client ps --format '{{.Names}}' | grep -Eo 'plextracapi|plextracnginx|notification-engine|notification-sender|contextual-scoring-service'); do
     if [ "$CONTAINER_RUNTIME" == "podman" ]; then