diff --git a/src/state_point.cpp b/src/state_point.cpp
index 48d87d403d..956518c1c3 100644
--- a/src/state_point.cpp
+++ b/src/state_point.cpp
@@ -698,6 +698,17 @@ write_source_bank(hid_t group_id, bool surf_source_bank)
   H5Tclose(banktype);
 }
 
+// Determine member names of a compound HDF5 datatype
+std::string dtype_member_names(hid_t dtype_id)
+{
+  int nmembers = H5Tget_nmembers(dtype_id);
+  std::string names;
+  for (int i = 0; i < nmembers; i++) {
+    names = names.append(H5Tget_member_name(dtype_id, i));
+    if (i < nmembers - 1) names += ", ";
+  }
+  return names;
+}
 
 void read_source_bank(hid_t group_id, std::vector<Particle::Bank>& sites, bool distribute)
 {
@@ -705,6 +716,17 @@ void read_source_bank(hid_t group_id, std::vector<Particle::Bank>& sites, bool d
 
   // Open the dataset
   hid_t dset = H5Dopen(group_id, "source_bank", H5P_DEFAULT);
+
+  // Make sure number of members matches
+  hid_t dtype = H5Dget_type(dset);
+  auto file_member_names = dtype_member_names(dtype);
+  auto bank_member_names = dtype_member_names(banktype);
+  if (file_member_names != bank_member_names) {
+    fatal_error(fmt::format("Source site attributes in file do not match what is "
+      "expected for this version of OpenMC. File attributes = ({}). Expected "
+      "attributes = ({})", file_member_names, bank_member_names));
+  }
+
   hid_t dspace = H5Dget_space(dset);
   hsize_t n_sites;
   H5Sget_simple_extent_dims(dspace, &n_sites, nullptr);
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/test_source_file.py b/tests/unit_tests/test_source_file.py
index ae6eff97f7..70aa1be4dd 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/test_source_file.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/test_source_file.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from random import random
+import subprocess
 
 import h5py
 import numpy as np
@@ -43,3 +44,35 @@ def test_source_file(run_in_tmpdir):
     assert np.all(arr['wgt'] == 1.0)
     assert np.all(arr['delayed_group'] == 0)
     assert np.all(arr['particle'] == 0)
+
+
+def test_wrong_source_attributes(run_in_tmpdir):
+    # Create a source file with animal attributes
+    source_dtype = np.dtype([
+        ('platypus', '<f8'),
+        ('axolotl', '<f8'),
+        ('narwhal', '<i4'),
+    ])
+    arr = np.array([(1.0, 2.0, 3), (4.0, 5.0, 6), (7.0, 8.0, 9)], dtype=source_dtype)
+    with h5py.File('animal_source.h5', 'w') as fh:
+        fh.attrs['filetype'] = np.string_("source")
+        fh.create_dataset('source_bank', data=arr)
+
+    # Create a simple model that uses this lovely animal source
+    m = openmc.Material()
+    m.add_nuclide('U235', 0.02)
+    openmc.Materials([m]).export_to_xml()
+    s = openmc.Sphere(r=10.0, boundary_type='vacuum')
+    c = openmc.Cell(fill=m, region=-s)
+    openmc.Geometry([c]).export_to_xml()
+    settings =  openmc.Settings()
+    settings.particles = 100
+    settings.batches = 10
+    settings.source = openmc.Source(filename='animal_source.h5')
+    settings.export_to_xml()
+
+    # When we run the model, it should error out with a message that includes
+    # the names of the wrong attributes
+    with pytest.raises(subprocess.CalledProcessError) as excinfo:
+        openmc.run()
+    assert 'platypus, axolotl, narwhal' in excinfo.value.output