diff --git a/CI/travis/check_kernel.sh b/CI/travis/check_kernel.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..4cdfb62db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CI/travis/check_kernel.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+KERNEL_TYPES="/tmp/mainline_types.h"
+IIOH="./iio.h"
+CHANNELC="./channel.c"
+
+if [ ! -f ${IIOH} ] ; then
+	echo can not find ${IIOH}
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ ! -f ${CHANNELC} ] ; then
+	echo can not find ${CHANNELC}
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+rm -f ${KERNEL_TYPES}
+wget -O ${KERNEL_TYPES} https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/plain/include/uapi/linux/iio/types.h
+
+ret=0
+
+for enum in iio_chan_type iio_modifier
+do
+	echo looking for ${enum}
+	rm -f /tmp/kernel_${enum} /tmp/libiio_${enum}
+	sed "0,/${enum}/d" ${KERNEL_TYPES}  | sed -n '/}/q;p' > /tmp/kernel_${enum}
+	sed "0,/^enum.*${enum}/d" ${IIOH} | sed -n '/}/q;p' | grep -v IIO_CHAN_TYPE_UNKNOWN > /tmp/libiio_${enum}
+	echo Differences in ${enum}
+	# diff exit status of 1 means a difference, not an error
+	set +e
+	diff -u  /tmp/libiio_${enum} /tmp/kernel_${enum}
+	count=$(diff -u  /tmp/libiio_${enum} /tmp/kernel_${enum} | wc -l)
+	set -e
+	if [ "$count" -ne "0" ] ; then
+		ret=1
+		echo difference between upstream kernel types.h and iio.h in ${enum}
+	else
+		echo none
+	fi
+done
+
+for enum in iio_chan_type_name_spec modifier_names
+do
+	sed "0,/^static.*${enum}/d" ${CHANNELC} | sed -n '/}/q;p' | \
+		grep -v IIO_CHAN_TYPE_UNKNOWN > /tmp/libiio_${enum}
+done
+
+while IFS="" read -r p ; do
+	key=$(echo ${p//[[:space:],]/})
+	count=$(grep "\[$key\]" /tmp/libiio_iio_chan_type_name_spec | wc -l)
+	if [ "$count" -eq "0" ] ; then
+		echo $key missing from channel.c iio_chan_type_name_spec
+		ret=1
+	fi
+done < /tmp/libiio_iio_chan_type
+
+echo
+sed -i '/IIO_NO_MOD/d' /tmp/libiio_iio_modifier
+
+while IFS="" read -r p ; do
+	key=$(echo ${p//[[:space:],]/})
+	count=$(grep "\[$key\]" /tmp/libiio_modifier_names | wc -l)
+	if [ "$count" -eq "0" ] ; then
+		echo $key missing from channel.c modifier_names
+		ret=1
+	fi
+done < /tmp/libiio_iio_modifier
+
+exit $ret
diff --git a/CI/travis/make_linux b/CI/travis/make_linux
index 4cca1aa9c..92ffa01ef 100755
--- a/CI/travis/make_linux
+++ b/CI/travis/make_linux
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ handle_default() {
 		sh generateDocumentationAndDeploy.sh
 	fi
 	cd ..
+
+	# make sure we are up to date (once)
+	if [ "$LDIST" = "DO_NOT_DEPLOY" ] ; then
+		./CI/travis/check_kernel.sh
+	fi
 }
 
 handle_centos() {