diff --git a/src/wasm/wasm-binary.cpp b/src/wasm/wasm-binary.cpp
index 74d74f473f7..ee8afeb93ed 100644
--- a/src/wasm/wasm-binary.cpp
+++ b/src/wasm/wasm-binary.cpp
@@ -2243,7 +2243,15 @@ void WasmBinaryReader::verifyInt64(int64_t x) {
 void WasmBinaryReader::readHeader() {
   BYN_TRACE("== readHeader\n");
   verifyInt32(BinaryConsts::Magic);
-  verifyInt32(BinaryConsts::Version);
+  auto version = getInt32();
+  if (version != BinaryConsts::Version) {
+    if (version == 0x1000d) {
+      throwError("this looks like a wasm component, which Binaryen does not "
+                 "support yet (see "
+                 "https://github.com/WebAssembly/binaryen/issues/6728)");
+    }
+    throwError("invalid version");
+  }
 }
 
 void WasmBinaryReader::readStart() {
diff --git a/test/lit/binary/component-error.test b/test/lit/binary/component-error.test
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..57bcec4573b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/lit/binary/component-error.test
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Verify that we show an error when given a component.
+
+;; RUN: not wasm-opt %s.wasm 2>&1 | filecheck %s
+
+;; CHECK: this looks like a wasm component, which Binaryen does not support yet (see https://github.com/WebAssembly/binaryen/issues/6728)
+
diff --git a/test/lit/binary/component-error.test.wasm b/test/lit/binary/component-error.test.wasm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..13d20e9f03e
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/lit/binary/component-error.test.wasm differ