diff --git a/src/hardware/hw_md2.c b/src/hardware/hw_md2.c
index 756d5a09..42f2afb2 100644
--- a/src/hardware/hw_md2.c
+++ b/src/hardware/hw_md2.c
@@ -304,8 +304,8 @@ static md2_model_t *md2_readModel(const char *filename)
 	// initialize model and read header
 
 	if (fread(&model->header, sizeof (model->header), 1, file) != 1
-		|| model->header.magic !=
-		(INT32)(('2' << 24) + ('P' << 16) + ('D' << 8) + 'I'))
+		|| model->header.magic != MD2_IDENT
+		|| model->header.version != MD2_VERSION)
 	{
 		fclose(file);
 		free(model);
diff --git a/src/hardware/hw_md2.h b/src/hardware/hw_md2.h
index 5a7e6d2b..299d1240 100644
--- a/src/hardware/hw_md2.h
+++ b/src/hardware/hw_md2.h
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@
 
 #include "hw_glob.h"
 
+// magic number "IDP2" or 844121161
+#define MD2_IDENT                       (INT32)(('2' << 24) + ('P' << 16) + ('D' << 8) + 'I')
+// model version
+#define MD2_VERSION                     8
+
 #define MD2_MAX_TRIANGLES               8192
 #define MD2_MAX_VERTICES                4096
 #define MD2_MAX_TEXCOORDS               4096