diff --git a/hack/make-rules/verify.sh b/hack/make-rules/verify.sh
index 1492fb850d..93df92c47e 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/verify.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/verify.sh
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ QUICK_PATTERNS+=(
   "verify-readonly-packages.sh"
   "verify-spelling.sh"
   "verify-staging-client-go.sh"
+  "verify-staging-meta-files.sh"
   "verify-test-images.sh"
   "verify-test-owners.sh"
 )
diff --git a/hack/verify-staging-meta-files.sh b/hack/verify-staging-meta-files.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..9e0bb68a9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/verify-staging-meta-files.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes 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.
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
+
+staging_repos=($(ls "${KUBE_ROOT}/staging/src/k8s.io/"))
+
+expected_filenames=(
+  .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
+  code-of-conduct.md
+  LICENSE
+  OWNERS
+  README.md
+  SECURITY_CONTACTS
+)
+
+exceptions=(
+  client-go/README.md # client-go provides its own README
+)
+
+RESULT=0
+for repo in ${staging_repos[@]}; do
+  for filename in ${expected_filenames[@]}; do
+    if echo " ${exceptions[*]} " | grep -F " ${repo}/${filename} " >/dev/null; then
+      continue
+    elif [ ! -f "${KUBE_ROOT}/staging/src/k8s.io/${repo}/${filename}" ]; then
+      echo "staging/src/k8s.io/${repo}/${filename} does not exist and must be created"
+      RESULT=1
+    fi
+  done
+done
+
+exit $RESULT