diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 3f1d2ecf..9e0e575c 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -334,6 +334,8 @@ subdir('tests')
 
 subdir('examples')
 
+meson.add_dist_script(sync_unsupported_files, '--check', udev_hwdb_list_file)
+
 pkgconfig = import('pkgconfig')
 pkgconfig.generate(
     name: versioned_libname,
diff --git a/scripts/sync-unsupported-devices.py b/scripts/sync-unsupported-devices.py
index d0b55e17..11b45fdd 100755
--- a/scripts/sync-unsupported-devices.py
+++ b/scripts/sync-unsupported-devices.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 # fprint-list-udev-hwdb.c from the libfprint wiki page.
 
 import argparse
+import os
 import re
 import sys
 from urllib.request import urlopen
@@ -40,6 +41,11 @@ def main():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
     parser.add_argument("source_file", help="Path to hwdb file")
     parser.add_argument("--url", default=DEFAULT_URL, help="Wiki page URL")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--check",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="Do not modify files, fail if an update is needed",
+    )
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     entries = parse_entries(fetch(args.url))
@@ -61,6 +67,10 @@ def main():
         print("allowlist_id_table is already up to date")
         return
 
+    if args.check:
+        print("allowlist_id_table is out of date", file=sys.stderr)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
     with open(args.source_file, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
         f.write(new_content)