diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 06d07e6c22..01f25aa88d 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -1378,6 +1378,8 @@ sub process {
 	my $in_imported_file = 0;
 	my $in_no_imported_file = 0;
 	my $non_utf8_charset = 0;
+	my $expect_spdx = 0;
+	my $expect_spdx_file;
 
 	our @report = ();
 	our $cnt_lines = 0;
@@ -1615,6 +1617,34 @@ sub process {
 			WARN("added, moved or deleted file(s), does MAINTAINERS need updating?\n" . $herecurr);
 		}
 
+# All new files should have a SPDX-License-Identifier tag
+		if ($line =~ /^new file mode\s*\d+\s*$/) {
+		    if ($expect_spdx) {
+			if ($expect_spdx_file =~
+			    /\.(c|h|py|pl|sh|json|inc|Makefile)$/) {
+			    # source code files MUST have SPDX license declared
+			    ERROR("New file '$expect_spdx_file' requires " .
+				  "'SPDX-License-Identifer'");
+			} else {
+			    # Other files MAY have SPDX license if appropriate
+			    WARNING("Does new file '$expect_spdx_file' need " .
+				    "'SPDX-License-Identifer'?");
+			}
+		    }
+		    $expect_spdx = 1;
+		    $expect_spdx_file = undef;
+		} elsif ($expect_spdx) {
+		    $expect_spdx_file = $realfile unless
+			defined $expect_spdx_file;
+
+		    # SPDX tags may occurr in comments which were
+		    # stripped from '$line', so use '$rawline'
+		    if ($rawline =~ /SPDX-License-Identifier/) {
+			$expect_spdx = 0;
+			$expect_spdx_file = undef;
+		    }
+		}
+
 # Check for wrappage within a valid hunk of the file
 		if ($realcnt != 0 && $line !~ m{^(?:\+|-| |\\ No newline|$)}) {
 			ERROR("patch seems to be corrupt (line wrapped?)\n" .