diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Lint/CheckUnknownTraitFields.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Lint/CheckUnknownTraitFields.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7b7aed1a68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Lint/CheckUnknownTraitFields.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+#region Copyright & License Information
+/*
+ * Copyright 2007-2018 The OpenRA Developers (see AUTHORS)
+ * This file is part of OpenRA, which is free software. It is made
+ * available to you under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of
+ * the License, or (at your option) any later version. For more
+ * information, see COPYING.
+ */
+#endregion
+
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using OpenRA.Mods.Common.Traits;
+using OpenRA.Traits;
+
+namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.Lint
+{
+	class CheckUnknownTraitFields : ILintPass, ILintMapPass
+	{
+		string NormalizeName(string key)
+		{
+			var name = key.Split('@')[0];
+			if (name.StartsWith("-", StringComparison.Ordinal))
+				return name.Substring(1);
+
+			return name;
+		}
+
+		void CheckActors(IEnumerable<MiniYamlNode> actors, Action<string> emitError, ModData modData)
+		{
+			foreach (var actor in actors)
+			{
+				foreach (var t in actor.Value.Nodes)
+				{
+					// Removals can never define children
+					if (t.Key.StartsWith("-", StringComparison.Ordinal) && t.Value.Nodes.Any())
+					{
+						emitError("{0} has child nodes, which is not valid for removals.".F(t.Key));
+						continue;
+					}
+
+					var traitName = NormalizeName(t.Key);
+					var traitInfo = modData.ObjectCreator.FindType(traitName + "Info");
+					foreach (var field in t.Value.Nodes)
+					{
+						var fieldName = NormalizeName(field.Key);
+						if (traitInfo.GetField(fieldName) == null)
+							emitError("{0} refers to a trait field `{1}` that does not exist on `{2}`.".F(field.Location, fieldName, traitName));
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		void ILintPass.Run(Action<string> emitError, Action<string> emitWarning, ModData modData)
+		{
+			foreach (var f in modData.Manifest.Rules)
+				CheckActors(MiniYaml.FromStream(modData.DefaultFileSystem.Open(f), f), emitError, modData);
+		}
+
+		void ILintMapPass.Run(Action<string> emitError, Action<string> emitWarning, ModData modData, Map map)
+		{
+			if (map.RuleDefinitions != null && map.RuleDefinitions.Value != null)
+			{
+				var mapFiles = FieldLoader.GetValue<string[]>("value", map.RuleDefinitions.Value);
+				foreach (var f in mapFiles)
+					CheckActors(MiniYaml.FromStream(map.Open(f), f), emitError, modData);
+
+				if (map.RuleDefinitions.Nodes.Any())
+					CheckActors(map.RuleDefinitions.Nodes, emitError, modData);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/OpenRA.Mods.Common.csproj b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/OpenRA.Mods.Common.csproj
index 5ba9556701..2ad65d8c90 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/OpenRA.Mods.Common.csproj
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/OpenRA.Mods.Common.csproj
@@ -884,6 +884,7 @@
     <Compile Include="UpdateRules\Rules\SplitRepairDecoration.cs" />
     <Compile Include="ModCredits.cs" />
     <Compile Include="UpdateRules\Rules\MoveHackyAISupportPowerDecisions.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Lint\CheckUnknownTraitFields.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
   <Target Name="AfterBuild">