diff --git a/substrate/Cargo.lock b/substrate/Cargo.lock
index 33ad43a4ec..0e7fce2b8d 100644
--- a/substrate/Cargo.lock
+++ b/substrate/Cargo.lock
@@ -7101,6 +7101,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "sp-core",
  "sp-io",
  "sp-runtime",
+ "sp-version",
  "tokio 0.2.25",
 ]
 
diff --git a/substrate/utils/frame/remote-externalities/Cargo.toml b/substrate/utils/frame/remote-externalities/Cargo.toml
index c799e30d6a..f849c89d70 100644
--- a/substrate/utils/frame/remote-externalities/Cargo.toml
+++ b/substrate/utils/frame/remote-externalities/Cargo.toml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ serde = "1.0.126"
 sp-io = { version = "4.0.0-dev", path = "../../../primitives/io" }
 sp-core = { version = "4.0.0-dev", path = "../../../primitives/core" }
 sp-runtime = { version = "4.0.0-dev", path = "../../../primitives/runtime" }
+sp-version = { version = "4.0.0-dev", path = "../../../primitives/version" }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tokio = { version = "0.2", features = ["macros", "rt-threaded"] }
diff --git a/substrate/utils/frame/remote-externalities/src/rpc_api.rs b/substrate/utils/frame/remote-externalities/src/rpc_api.rs
index be77cd9499..24050856a9 100644
--- a/substrate/utils/frame/remote-externalities/src/rpc_api.rs
+++ b/substrate/utils/frame/remote-externalities/src/rpc_api.rs
@@ -88,3 +88,24 @@ async fn build_client<S: AsRef<str>>(from: S) -> Result<WsClient, String> {
 		.await
 		.map_err(|e| format!("`WsClientBuilder` failed to build: {:?}", e))
 }
+
+/// Get the runtime version of a given chain.
+pub async fn get_runtime_version<Block, S>(
+	from: S,
+	at: Option<Block::Hash>,
+) -> Result<sp_version::RuntimeVersion, String>
+where
+	S: AsRef<str>,
+	Block: BlockT + serde::de::DeserializeOwned,
+	Block::Header: HeaderT,
+{
+	let params = if let Some(at) = at { vec![hash_to_json::<Block>(at)?] } else { vec![] };
+	let client = build_client(from).await?;
+	client
+		.request::<sp_version::RuntimeVersion>(
+			"state_getRuntimeVersion",
+			JsonRpcParams::Array(params),
+		)
+		.await
+		.map_err(|e| format!("state_getRuntimeVersion request failed: {:?}", e))
+}
diff --git a/substrate/utils/frame/try-runtime/cli/src/lib.rs b/substrate/utils/frame/try-runtime/cli/src/lib.rs
index 047829d94d..c92c395953 100644
--- a/substrate/utils/frame/try-runtime/cli/src/lib.rs
+++ b/substrate/utils/frame/try-runtime/cli/src/lib.rs
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ async fn on_runtime_upgrade<Block, ExecDispatch>(
 	config: Configuration,
 ) -> sc_cli::Result<()>
 where
-	Block: BlockT,
+	Block: BlockT + serde::de::DeserializeOwned,
 	Block::Hash: FromStr,
 	<Block::Hash as FromStr>::Err: Debug,
 	NumberFor<Block>: FromStr,
@@ -198,6 +198,8 @@ where
 		max_runtime_instances,
 	);
 
+	check_spec_name::<Block>(shared.url.clone(), config.chain_spec.name().to_string()).await;
+
 	let ext = {
 		let builder = match command.state {
 			State::Snap { snapshot_path } =>
@@ -254,7 +256,7 @@ async fn offchain_worker<Block, ExecDispatch>(
 	config: Configuration,
 ) -> sc_cli::Result<()>
 where
-	Block: BlockT,
+	Block: BlockT + serde::de::DeserializeOwned,
 	Block::Hash: FromStr,
 	Block::Header: serde::de::DeserializeOwned,
 	<Block::Hash as FromStr>::Err: Debug,
@@ -274,6 +276,8 @@ where
 		max_runtime_instances,
 	);
 
+	check_spec_name::<Block>(shared.url.clone(), config.chain_spec.name().to_string()).await;
+
 	let mode = match command.state {
 		State::Live { snapshot_path, modules } => {
 			let at = shared.block_at::<Block>()?;
@@ -361,6 +365,8 @@ where
 	let block_hash = shared.block_at::<Block>()?;
 	let block: Block = rpc_api::get_block::<Block, _>(shared.url.clone(), block_hash).await?;
 
+	check_spec_name::<Block>(shared.url.clone(), config.chain_spec.name().to_string()).await;
+
 	let mode = match command.state {
 		State::Snap { snapshot_path } => {
 			let mode =
@@ -484,3 +490,32 @@ fn extract_code(spec: Box<dyn ChainSpec>) -> sc_cli::Result<(StorageKey, Storage
 
 	Ok((code_key, code))
 }
+
+/// Check the spec_name of an `ext`
+///
+/// If the version does not exist, or if it does not match with the given, it emits a warning.
+async fn check_spec_name<Block: BlockT + serde::de::DeserializeOwned>(
+	uri: String,
+	expected_spec_name: String,
+) {
+	let expected_spec_name = expected_spec_name.to_lowercase();
+	match remote_externalities::rpc_api::get_runtime_version::<Block, _>(uri.clone(), None)
+		.await
+		.map(|version| String::from(version.spec_name.clone()))
+		.map(|spec_name| spec_name.to_lowercase())
+	{
+		Ok(spec) if spec == expected_spec_name => {
+			log::debug!("found matching spec name: {:?}", spec);
+		},
+		Ok(spec) => {
+			log::warn!(
+				"version mismatch: remote spec name: '{}', expected (local chain spec, aka. `--chain`): '{}'",
+				spec,
+				expected_spec_name,
+			);
+		},
+		Err(why) => {
+			log::error!("failed to fetch runtime version from {}: {:?}", uri, why);
+		},
+	}
+}