diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
index 3a9aecaab7..66bad2fe43 100644
--- a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -28,11 +28,14 @@ Fixes #
 **Special notes for your reviewer**:
 
 **Checklist**:
-<!-- Put an "X" character inside the brackets of each completed task. Some may be optional depending on the PR in which case these can be deleted -->
+<!-- Put an "X" character inside the brackets of each completed task. Some may be optional depending on the PR in which case these can be deleted 
+
+ Please add an icon to the title of this PR, the icon will be either ⚠️ (:warning:, major or breaking changes), ✨ (:sparkles:, feature additions), 🐛 (:bug:, patch and bugfixes), 📖 (:book:, documentation or proposals), or 🌱 (:seedling:, minor or other) 
+-->
 
 - [ ] squashed commits
 - [ ] includes documentation
-- [ ] includes [emojis](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kubebuilder-release-tools?tab=readme-ov-file#kubebuilder-project-versioning)
+- [ ] includes emoji in title 
 - [ ] adds unit tests
 - [ ] adds or updates e2e tests
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-verify.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-verify.yml
index 51e8acaaf3..d99d404881 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-verify.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-verify.yml
@@ -4,16 +4,15 @@ on:
   pull_request_target:
     types: [opened, edited, synchronize, reopened]
 
-permissions:
-  checks: write
-
 jobs:
   verify:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     name: verify PR contents
     steps:
-    - name: Verifier action
-      id: verifier
-      uses: kubernetes-sigs/kubebuilder-release-tools@012269a88fa4c034a0acf1ba84c26b195c0dbab4 # tag=v0.4.3
-      with:
-        github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+    - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # tag=v4.2.2
+
+    - name: Check if PR title is valid
+      env:
+        PR_TITLE: ${{ github.event.pull_request.title }}
+      run: |
+        ./hack/verify-pr-title.sh "${PR_TITLE}"
diff --git a/hack/verify-pr-title.sh b/hack/verify-pr-title.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..be4b523f5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/verify-pr-title.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Copyright 2024 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.
+
+# Define regex patterns
+WIP_REGEX="^\W?WIP\W"
+TAG_REGEX="^\[[[:alnum:]\._-]*\]"
+PR_TITLE="$1"
+
+# Trim WIP and tags from title
+trimmed_title=$(echo "$PR_TITLE" | sed -E "s/$WIP_REGEX//" | sed -E "s/$TAG_REGEX//" | xargs)
+
+# Normalize common emojis in text form to actual emojis
+trimmed_title=$(echo "$trimmed_title" | sed -E "s/:warning:/⚠/g")
+trimmed_title=$(echo "$trimmed_title" | sed -E "s/:sparkles:/✨/g")
+trimmed_title=$(echo "$trimmed_title" | sed -E "s/:bug:/🐛/g")
+trimmed_title=$(echo "$trimmed_title" | sed -E "s/:book:/📖/g")
+trimmed_title=$(echo "$trimmed_title" | sed -E "s/:rocket:/🚀/g")
+trimmed_title=$(echo "$trimmed_title" | sed -E "s/:seedling:/🌱/g")
+
+# Check PR type prefix
+if [[ "$trimmed_title" =~ ^(⚠|✨|🐛|📖|🚀|🌱) ]]; then
+    echo "PR title is valid: $trimmed_title"
+else
+    echo "Error: No matching PR type indicator found in title."
+    echo "You need to have one of these as the prefix of your PR title:"
+    echo "- Breaking change: ⚠ (:warning:)"
+    echo "- Non-breaking feature: ✨ (:sparkles:)"
+    echo "- Patch fix: 🐛 (:bug:)"
+    echo "- Docs: 📖 (:book:)"
+    echo "- Release: 🚀 (:rocket:)"
+    echo "- Infra/Tests/Other: 🌱 (:seedling:)"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check that PR title does not contain Issue or PR number
+if [[ "$trimmed_title" =~ \#[0-9]+ ]]; then
+    echo "Error: PR title should not contain issue or PR number."
+    echo "Issue numbers belong in the PR body as either \"Fixes #XYZ\" (if it closes the issue or PR), or something like \"Related to #XYZ\" (if it's just related)."
+    exit 1
+fi