diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/pack.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/pack.ts
index 9c101e97fe..8fbbdb3d74 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/pack.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/pack.ts
@@ -19,8 +19,15 @@ import {
   revertProductionPack,
 } from '../lib/packager/productionPack';
 import { paths } from '../lib/paths';
+import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import { publishPreflightCheck } from '../lib/publishing';
 
 export const pre = async () => {
+  publishPreflightCheck({
+    dir: paths.targetDir,
+    packageJson: await fs.readJson(paths.resolveTarget('package.json')),
+  });
+
   await productionPack({ packageDir: paths.targetDir });
 };
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/repo/fix.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/repo/fix.ts
index 88070ceb8f..c170c5c3fd 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/repo/fix.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/repo/fix.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import { OptionValues } from 'commander';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import { resolve as resolvePath, posix, relative as relativePath } from 'path';
 import { paths } from '../../lib/paths';
+import { publishPreflightCheck } from '../../lib/publishing';
 
 /**
  * A mutable object representing a package.json file with potential fixes.
@@ -438,7 +439,13 @@ export async function command(opts: OptionValues): Promise<void> {
 
   // Fixers that only apply to repos that publish packages
   if (opts.publish) {
-    fixers.push(fixRepositoryField, fixPluginId, fixPluginPackages);
+    fixers.push(
+      fixRepositoryField,
+      fixPluginId,
+      fixPluginPackages,
+      // Run the publish preflight check too, to make sure we don't uncover errors during publishing
+      publishPreflightCheck,
+    );
   }
 
   for (const fixer of fixers) {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/publishing.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/publishing.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..20e4241985
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/publishing.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2024 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * 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 { BackstagePackage } from '@backstage/cli-node';
+
+/**
+ * A basic check that throws if a packages doesn't contain required backstage metadata for publishing
+ */
+export function publishPreflightCheck(pkg: BackstagePackage): void {
+  const { name, backstage } = pkg.packageJson;
+  if (!backstage || !name) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const { role } = backstage;
+
+  if (
+    role === 'backend-plugin' ||
+    role === 'backend-plugin-module' ||
+    role === 'frontend-plugin' ||
+    role === 'frontend-plugin-module'
+  ) {
+    if (!backstage.pluginId) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Plugin package ${name} is missing a backstage.pluginId, please run 'backstage-cli repo fix --publish'`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (role === 'backend-plugin' || role === 'frontend-plugin') {
+    if (!backstage.pluginPackages) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Plugin package ${name} is missing a backstage.pluginPackages, please run 'backstage-cli repo fix --publish'`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (
+    backstage.pluginId &&
+    (role === 'common-library' ||
+      role === 'node-library' ||
+      role === 'web-library')
+  ) {
+    if (!backstage.pluginPackages) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Plugin library package ${name} is missing a backstage.pluginPackages, please run 'backstage-cli repo fix --publish'`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (role === 'backend-plugin-module' || role === 'frontend-plugin-module') {
+    if (!backstage.pluginPackage) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Plugin module package ${name} is missing a backstage.pluginPackage, please run 'backstage-cli repo fix --publish'`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+}