diff --git a/hiera/common.yaml b/hiera/common.yaml
index 42b7145b1d..32c16e41f3 100644
--- a/hiera/common.yaml
+++ b/hiera/common.yaml
@@ -122,6 +122,8 @@ statusbot_channels:
 - syscompass
 - tacker
 - tripleo
+# Note that freenode only allows a single account to connect to 120
+# channel.
 meetbot_channels:
 - '#ara'
 - '#cloudkitty'
diff --git a/test-requirements.txt b/test-requirements.txt
index 4d785cf785..cbe1615b7b 100644
--- a/test-requirements.txt
+++ b/test-requirements.txt
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@ hacking>=0.5.6,<0.8
 Sphinx>=1.1.2,<1.2
 oslosphinx
 bashate>=0.2
+PyYAML
diff --git a/tools/irc_checks.py b/tools/irc_checks.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..21686a86fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/irc_checks.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env python
+
+# Copyright 2016 SUSE Linux GmbH
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import sys
+import yaml
+
+
+def check_meetbot():
+
+    errors = False
+
+    config = yaml.load(open('hiera/common.yaml', 'r'))
+    meetbot_channels = config['meetbot_channels']
+    # IRC has a limit of 120 channels that we unfortunately hit with
+    # gerritbot. If we try connect to more, it will not connect to
+    # all. Avoid this situation.
+    if len(meetbot_channels) > 120:
+        print("ERROR: bots can only handle 120 channels but found %s."
+              % len(meetbot_channels))
+        print("Sorry, we're at our limit and cannot add more for now.")
+        print("If you want to help set up another instance contact the "
+              "infra team in #openstack-infra.\n")
+        errors = True
+
+    return errors
+
+
+def main():
+    errors = check_meetbot()
+
+    if errors:
+        print("Found errors in channel configuration!")
+    else:
+        print("No errors found in channel configuration!")
+    return errors
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 3af4ec5ddd..5c5e284c5e 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ commands =
   flake8
   {toxinidir}/tools/run-bashate.sh
   python {toxinidir}/tools/sorted_modules_env.py {toxinidir}/modules.env
+  python {toxinidir}/tools/irc_checks.py
 
 [testenv:venv]
 commands = {posargs}