diff --git a/.et b/.et
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..96ed9287ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.et
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{ "bad_versions" : [ "1.2.1",
+                     "1.2.3"]
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nipype/__init__.py b/nipype/__init__.py
index 8d135bf061..821a411009 100644
--- a/nipype/__init__.py
+++ b/nipype/__init__.py
@@ -22,9 +22,7 @@
 
 config = NipypeConfig()
 logging = Logging(config)
-logger = logging.getLogger('nipype.utils')
 
-INIT_MSG = "Running {packname} version {version} (latest: {latest})".format
 
 class NipypeTester(object):
     def __call__(self, doctests=True, parallel=False):
@@ -60,15 +58,46 @@ def get_info():
                          Rename, Function, Select, Merge)
 
 
-if config.getboolean('execution', 'check_version'):
+def check_latest_version(raise_exception=False):
+    """Check for the latest version of the library
+
+    parameters:
+    raise_exception: boolean
+        Raise a RuntimeError if a bad version is being used
+    """
     import etelemetry
+    logger = logging.getLogger('nipype.utils')
+
+    INIT_MSG = "Running {packname} version {version} (latest: {latest})".format
 
-    latest = {"version": 'Unknown'}
+    latest = {"version": 'Unknown', "bad_versions": []}
+    result = None
     try:
-        latest = etelemetry.get_project("nipy/nipype")
+        result = etelemetry.get_project("nipy/nipype")
     except Exception as e:
         logger.warning("Could not check for version updates: \n%s", e)
     finally:
-        logger.info(INIT_MSG(packname='nipype',
-                             version=__version__,
-                             latest=latest["version"]))
+        if result:
+            latest.update(**result)
+            if LooseVersion(__version__) != LooseVersion(latest["version"]):
+                logger.info(INIT_MSG(packname='nipype',
+                                     version=__version__,
+                                     latest=latest["version"]))
+            if latest["bad_versions"] and \
+                    any([LooseVersion(__version__) == LooseVersion(ver)
+                         for ver in latest["bad_versions"]]):
+                message = ('You are using a version of Nipype with a critical '
+                           'bug. Please use a different version.')
+                if raise_exception:
+                    raise RuntimeError(message)
+                else:
+                    logger.critical(message)
+    return latest
+
+# Run telemetry on import for interactive sessions, such as IPython, Jupyter notebooks, Python REPL
+if config.getboolean('execution', 'check_version'):
+    import __main__
+    if not hasattr(__main__, '__file__'):
+        from .interfaces.base import BaseInterface
+        if BaseInterface._etelemetry_version_data is None:
+            BaseInterface._etelemetry_version_data = check_latest_version()
diff --git a/nipype/interfaces/base/core.py b/nipype/interfaces/base/core.py
index 7ba8486082..85cad50045 100644
--- a/nipype/interfaces/base/core.py
+++ b/nipype/interfaces/base/core.py
@@ -166,9 +166,15 @@ class BaseInterface(Interface):
     _redirect_x = False
     references_ = []
     resource_monitor = True  # Enabled for this interface IFF enabled in the config
+    _etelemetry_version_data = None
 
     def __init__(self, from_file=None, resource_monitor=None,
                  ignore_exception=False, **inputs):
+        if config.getboolean('execution', 'check_version'):
+            from ... import check_latest_version
+            if BaseInterface._etelemetry_version_data is None:
+                BaseInterface._etelemetry_version_data = check_latest_version()
+
         if not self.input_spec:
             raise Exception(
                 'No input_spec in class: %s' % self.__class__.__name__)