diff --git a/pennylane/devices/default_qubit_jax.py b/pennylane/devices/default_qubit_jax.py
index 3c19213851a..20df2aaaa22 100644
--- a/pennylane/devices/default_qubit_jax.py
+++ b/pennylane/devices/default_qubit_jax.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 # 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.
-"""This module contains an jax implementation of the :class:`~.DefaultQubit`
+"""This module contains a jax implementation of the :class:`~.DefaultQubit`
 reference plugin.
 """
 # pylint: disable=ungrouped-imports
@@ -30,11 +30,25 @@
 
     from pennylane.pulse.parametrized_hamiltonian_pytree import ParametrizedHamiltonianPytree
 
-
 except ImportError as e:  # pragma: no cover
     raise ImportError("default.qubit.jax device requires installing jax>0.3.20") from e
 
 
+def _validate_jax_version():
+    if jax.__version__ == "0.4.4":
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            "\nYour installed version of JAX is 0.4.4 but Pennylane is incompatible with it.\n\n"
+            "You can either downgrade JAX to version 0.4.3 or update to a more recent version if available."
+            "If you downgrade, you will also need to downgrade JAXLIB to version 0.4.3 or earlier.\n"
+            "If you are using pip to manage your packages, you can run the following command:\n\n"
+            "\tpip install 'jax==0.4.3' 'jaxlib==0.4.3'\n\n"
+            "If you are using conda to manage your packages, you can run the following command:\n\n"
+            "\tconda install 'jax==0.4.3' 'jaxlib==0.4.3'\n\n"
+            "If you still have problems, please open an issue at the following link:\n\n"
+            "\thttps://github.com/PennyLaneAI/pennylane/issues\n"
+        )
+
+
 class DefaultQubitJax(DefaultQubit):
     """Simulator plugin based on ``"default.qubit"``, written using jax.
 
@@ -119,7 +133,7 @@ def circuit():
             a = keyed_circuit(key1)
             b = keyed_circuit(key2) # b will be different samples now.
 
-        Check out out the `JAX random documentation <https://jax.readthedocs.io/en/latest/jax.random.html>`__
+        Check out the `JAX random documentation <https://jax.readthedocs.io/en/latest/jax.random.html>`__
         for more information.
 
     Args:
@@ -136,6 +150,8 @@ def circuit():
 
     """
 
+    _validate_jax_version()
+
     name = "Default qubit (jax) PennyLane plugin"
     short_name = "default.qubit.jax"
 
@@ -163,6 +179,8 @@ def circuit():
     _ndim = staticmethod(jnp.ndim)
 
     def __init__(self, wires, *, shots=None, prng_key=None, analytic=None):
+        _validate_jax_version()
+
         if jax_config.read("jax_enable_x64"):
             c_dtype = jnp.complex128
             r_dtype = jnp.float64
diff --git a/tests/devices/test_default_qubit_jax.py b/tests/devices/test_default_qubit_jax.py
index 0a2dcab28d8..986cf437882 100644
--- a/tests/devices/test_default_qubit_jax.py
+++ b/tests/devices/test_default_qubit_jax.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 jax = pytest.importorskip("jax", minversion="0.2")
 jnp = jax.numpy
+import jaxlib
 import numpy as np
 from jax.config import config
 
@@ -24,6 +25,49 @@
 from pennylane.pulse import ParametrizedHamiltonian
 
 
+@pytest.mark.jax
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "version, package, should_raise",
+    [
+        ("0.4.4", jax, True),
+        ("0.4.3", jax, False),
+    ],
+)
+def test_jax_version(version, package, should_raise, monkeypatch):
+    from pennylane.devices.default_qubit_jax import _validate_jax_version
+
+    with monkeypatch.context() as m:
+        m.setattr(package, "__version__", version)
+
+        if should_raise:
+            msg = "version of JAX is 0.4.4"
+
+            with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match=msg):
+                _validate_jax_version()
+
+            dev = qml.device("default.qubit", wires=1)
+
+            with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match=msg):
+
+                @qml.qnode(dev, interface="jax", diff_method="backprop")
+                def circuit():
+                    return None
+
+            with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match=msg):
+                dev = qml.device("default.qubit.jax", wires=1)
+
+        else:
+            _validate_jax_version()
+
+            _ = qml.device("default.qubit.jax", wires=1)
+
+            dev = qml.device("default.qubit", wires=1)
+
+            @qml.qnode(dev, interface="jax")
+            def circuit():
+                return None
+
+
 @pytest.mark.jax
 def test_analytic_deprecation():
     """Tests if the kwarg `analytic` is used and displays error message."""