diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
index c3926a4..69fc396 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
@@ -361,6 +361,9 @@
         } else {
             resource = localResourceRepository.get(file.getRelativePath());
             createMetadataDataset = resource == null;
+            if (createMetadataDataset) {
+                ensureCatalogUpgradability(index);
+            }
         }
         if (createMetadataDataset) {
             final double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate =
@@ -489,4 +492,10 @@
         MetadataBootstrap.isNewUniverse = isNewUniverse;
     }
 
+    private static void ensureCatalogUpgradability(IMetadataIndex index) {
+        if (index != MetadataPrimaryIndexes.SYNONYM_DATASET) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException(
+                    "attempt to create metadata index " + index.getIndexName() + ". Index should already exist");
+        }
+    }
 }