diff --git a/.clang_format.hook b/.clang_format.hook
index 9db4fe4550c44fdb60e48818841d99ba5a081f46..40d70f56cf97f7b7f18bb255dae73ab1d542f12a 100755
--- a/.clang_format.hook
+++ b/.clang_format.hook
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
 
-# clang-format hook without version check
+readonly VERSION="3.8"
+
+version=$(clang-format -version)
+
+if ! [[ $version == *"$VERSION"* ]]; then
+    echo "clang-format version check failed."
+    echo "a version contains '$VERSION' is needed, but get '$version'"
+    echo "you can install the right version, and make an soft-link to '\$PATH' env"
+    exit -1
+fi
 
 clang-format $@