diff --git a/.azure/lint-linux.yml b/.azure/lint-linux.yml
index a3b2d29da22c..830acdc1821e 100644
--- a/.azure/lint-linux.yml
+++ b/.azure/lint-linux.yml
@@ -51,5 +51,6 @@ jobs:
           cargo clippy -- -D warnings
           tools/verify_headers.py qiskit test
           python tools/find_optional_imports.py
+          tools/find_stray_release_notes.py
           reno lint
         displayName: 'Lint'
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 14f58407b05e..e592a759231b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ lint:
 	tools/verify_headers.py qiskit test tools examples
 	pylint -rn --disable='invalid-name, missing-module-docstring, redefined-outer-name' examples/python/*.py
 	tools/find_optional_imports.py
+	tools/find_stray_release_notes.py
 
 # Only pylint on files that have changed from origin/main. Also parallelize (disables cyclic-import check)
 lint-incr:
diff --git a/qiskit/transpiler/preset_passmanagers/releasenotes/notes/remove-hard-time-limit-vf2-be83830ecc71f72c.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/0.21/remove-hard-time-limit-vf2-be83830ecc71f72c.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from qiskit/transpiler/preset_passmanagers/releasenotes/notes/remove-hard-time-limit-vf2-be83830ecc71f72c.yaml
rename to releasenotes/notes/0.21/remove-hard-time-limit-vf2-be83830ecc71f72c.yaml
diff --git a/tools/find_stray_release_notes.py b/tools/find_stray_release_notes.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..7e04f5ecc320
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/find_stray_release_notes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# This code is part of Qiskit.
+#
+# (C) Copyright IBM 2022
+#
+# This code is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. You may
+# obtain a copy of this license in the LICENSE.txt file in the root directory
+# of this source tree or at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.
+#
+# Any modifications or derivative works of this code must retain this
+# copyright notice, and modified files need to carry a notice indicating
+# that they have been altered from the originals.
+
+"""Utility script to verify qiskit copyright file headers"""
+
+import argparse
+import multiprocessing
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import re
+
+# release notes regex
+reno = re.compile(r"releasenotes\/notes")
+# exact release note regex
+exact_reno = re.compile(r"^releasenotes\/notes")
+
+
+def discover_files():
+    """Find all .py, .pyx, .pxd files in a list of trees"""
+    cmd = ["git", "ls-tree", "-r", "--name-only", "HEAD"]
+    res = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, check=True, encoding="UTF8")
+    files = res.stdout.split("\n")
+    return files
+
+
+def validate_path(file_path):
+    """Validate a path in the git tree."""
+    if reno.search(file_path) and not exact_reno.search(file_path):
+        return file_path
+    return None
+
+
+def _main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Find any stray release notes.")
+    _args = parser.parse_args()
+    files = discover_files()
+    with multiprocessing.Pool() as pool:
+        res = pool.map(validate_path, files)
+    failed_files = [x for x in res if x is not None]
+    if len(failed_files) > 0:
+        for failed_file in failed_files:
+            sys.stderr.write("%s is not in the correct location.\n" % failed_file)
+        sys.exit(1)
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    _main()
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index ee04a83bc77e..f457cab047e0 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ commands =
   # pylint -rn --disable='invalid-name,missing-module-docstring,redefined-outer-name' examples/python/*.py
   {toxinidir}/tools/verify_headers.py qiskit test tools examples
   {toxinidir}/tools/find_optional_imports.py
+  {toxinidir}/tools/find_stray_release_notes.py
   reno lint
 
 [testenv:lint-incr]
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ commands =
   {toxinidir}/tools/pylint_incr.py -rn -j4 -sn --disable='invalid-name,missing-module-docstring,redefined-outer-name' --paths :(glob,top)examples/python/*.py
   {toxinidir}/tools/verify_headers.py qiskit test tools examples
   {toxinidir}/tools/find_optional_imports.py
+  {toxinidir}/tools/find_stray_release_notes.py
   reno lint
 
 [testenv:black]