diff --git a/puppet/services/cinder-hpelefthand-iscsi.yaml b/puppet/services/cinder-hpelefthand-iscsi.yaml
index f22a3aebfe..ca7d283848 100644
--- a/puppet/services/cinder-hpelefthand-iscsi.yaml
+++ b/puppet/services/cinder-hpelefthand-iscsi.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-heat_template_version: 2017-02-24
+heat_template_version: ocata
 
 description: >
   Configure Cinder HPELeftHandISCSIDriver
diff --git a/tools/yaml-validate.py b/tools/yaml-validate.py
index f2359af6f2..63e3ce5123 100755
--- a/tools/yaml-validate.py
+++ b/tools/yaml-validate.py
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ def validate_mysql_connection(settings):
 
 
 def validate_service(filename, tpl):
+    if 'heat_template_version' in tpl and not str(tpl['heat_template_version']).isalpha():
+        print('ERROR: heat_template_version needs to be the release alias not a date: %s'
+              % filename)
+        return 1
     if 'outputs' in tpl and 'role_data' in tpl['outputs']:
         if 'value' not in tpl['outputs']['role_data']:
             print('ERROR: invalid role_data for filename: %s'