diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/OpenRA.Mods.Common.csproj b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/OpenRA.Mods.Common.csproj
index 233b8c4fa1..fe37cc87c9 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/OpenRA.Mods.Common.csproj
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/OpenRA.Mods.Common.csproj
@@ -559,6 +559,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Traits\World\WeatherOverlay.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Traits\World\ActorSpawnManager.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Traits\ActorSpawner.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="UpdateRules\Rules\IgnoreAbstractActors.cs" />
     <Compile Include="UtilityCommands\CheckYaml.cs" />
     <Compile Include="UtilityCommands\ConvertPngToShpCommand.cs" />
     <Compile Include="UtilityCommands\ConvertSpriteToPngCommand.cs" />
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/Rules/IgnoreAbstractActors.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/Rules/IgnoreAbstractActors.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..162bedce29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/Rules/IgnoreAbstractActors.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+#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;
+
+namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.UpdateRules.Rules
+{
+	public class IgnoreAbstractActors : UpdateRule
+	{
+		readonly Dictionary<string, List<MiniYamlNode>> actors = new Dictionary<string, List<MiniYamlNode>>();
+
+		public override string Name { get { return "Abstract actors are ignored while parsing rules"; } }
+		public override string Description
+		{
+			get
+			{
+				return "Actor ids starting with '^' are now reserved for abstract\n" +
+					"inheritance templates, and will not be parsed by the game.";
+			}
+		}
+
+		public override IEnumerable<string> BeforeUpdate(ModData modData)
+		{
+			actors.Clear();
+			yield break;
+		}
+
+		public override IEnumerable<string> UpdateActorNode(ModData modData, MiniYamlNode actorNode)
+		{
+			if (!actorNode.Key.StartsWith("^", StringComparison.Ordinal))
+				yield break;
+
+			var name = actorNode.Key;
+			if (!actors.ContainsKey(name))
+				actors[name] = new List<MiniYamlNode>();
+
+			actors[name].Add(actorNode);
+		}
+
+		public override IEnumerable<string> AfterUpdate(ModData modData)
+		{
+			if (actors.Any())
+				yield return "Actor ids starting with '^' are now reserved for abstract\n" +
+					"inheritance templates, and will not be parsed by the game.\n" +
+					"Check the following definitions and rename them if they are not used for inheritance:\n" +
+					UpdateUtils.FormatMessageList(actors.Select(n => n.Key + ":\n" +
+						UpdateUtils.FormatMessageList(n.Value.Select(v => v.Location.ToString()))));
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/UpdatePath.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/UpdatePath.cs
index 4e83d69d5b..4deed58287 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/UpdatePath.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/UpdatePath.cs
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.UpdateRules
 				new SplitTurretAimAnimation(),
 				new DefineSoundDefaults(),
 				new RenameWormSpawner(),
-				new RemoveWithReloadingSpriteTurret()
+				new RemoveWithReloadingSpriteTurret(),
+				new IgnoreAbstractActors()
 			})
 		};