diff --git a/index.mk b/index.mk
index f208779..26c0f1b 100644
--- a/index.mk
+++ b/index.mk
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 # Export environment variables if a .env file is present.
 ifeq ($(ENV_EXPORTED),) # ENV vars not yet exported
 ifneq ("$(wildcard .env)","")
@@ -21,6 +22,9 @@ export PATH := ./node_modules/.bin:$(PATH)
 # Use bash not sh
 SHELL := /bin/bash
 
+# verify that secret-squirrel is set up to run on each commit
+SQUIRRELIFY := $(shell node node_modules/@financial-times/n-gage/scripts/squirrelify.js)
+
 # Some handy utilities
 GLOB = git ls-files -z $1 | tr '\0' '\n' | xargs -I {} find {} ! -type l
 NPM_INSTALL = npm prune --production=false --no-package-lock && npm install --no-package-lock
@@ -34,6 +38,7 @@ CONFIG_VARS = curl -fsL https://ft-next-config-vars.herokuapp.com/$1/$(call APP_
 IS_USER_FACING = `find . -type d \( -path ./bower_components -o -path ./node_modules \) -prune -o -name '*.html' -print`
 MAKEFILE_HAS_A11Y = `grep -rli "a11y" Makefile`
 
+
 #
 # META TASKS
 #
diff --git a/scripts/squirrelify.js b/scripts/squirrelify.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6474474
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/squirrelify.js
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+const packageJson = require(`${process.cwd()}/package.json`);
+
+const squirrelError = () => {
+	throw new Error(`secret-squirrel has not been configured to run on every commit
+Add the following to your package.json
+
+"config": {
+  "pre-git": {
+    "pre-commit": [
+      "node_modules/.bin/secret-squirrel"
+    ]
+  }
+}
+`);
+}
+
+try {
+	const preCommit = packageJson.config['pre-git']['pre-commit'];
+	if (preCommit.indexOf('node_modules/.bin/secret-squirrel') === -1) {
+		squirrelError();
+	}
+} catch (e) {
+	squirrelError();
+}