diff --git a/lua/lazy/core/config.lua b/lua/lazy/core/config.lua
index 1ca912d..42230b5 100644
--- a/lua/lazy/core/config.lua
+++ b/lua/lazy/core/config.lua
@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ function M.setup(spec, opts)
     }
   end
 
+  -- disable plugin loading since we do all of that ourselves
+  vim.go.loadplugins = false
+
   vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("User", {
     pattern = "VeryLazy",
     once = true,
diff --git a/lua/lazy/init.lua b/lua/lazy/init.lua
index fd61417..51a6298 100644
--- a/lua/lazy/init.lua
+++ b/lua/lazy/init.lua
@@ -3,11 +3,17 @@ local M = {}
 ---@param spec LazySpec Should be a module name to load, or a plugin spec
 ---@param opts? LazyConfig
 function M.setup(spec, opts)
-  if not vim.go.loadplugins or vim.g.lazy_did_setup then
+  if vim.fn.has("nvim-0.8.0") ~= 1 then
+    vim.notify("lazy.nvim requires Neovim >= 0.8.0", vim.log.levels.ERROR, { title = "lazy.nvim" })
+    return
+  end
+  if not vim.go.loadplugins then
+    return
+  end
+  if vim.g.lazy_did_setup then
     vim.notify("Re-sourcing your config is not supported with lazy.nvim", vim.log.levels.WARN, { title = "lazy.nvim" })
     return
   end
-  vim.go.loadplugins = false
 
   vim.g.lazy_did_setup = true
   local start = vim.loop.hrtime()