diff --git a/src/main/scala/sc4pac/ChannelUtil.scala b/src/main/scala/sc4pac/ChannelUtil.scala
index 5c3b823..14de1e6 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/sc4pac/ChannelUtil.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/sc4pac/ChannelUtil.scala
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ object ChannelUtil {
 
       // write channel contents
       val channel = {
-        val c = JD.Channel.create(scheme = Constants.currentChannelScheme, packagesMap)
+        val c = JD.Channel.create(scheme = Constants.channelSchemeVersions.max, packagesMap)
         c.copy(contents = c.contents.sortBy(item => (item.group, item.name)))
       }
       scala.util.Using.resource(java.nio.file.Files.newBufferedWriter((tempJsonDir / JsonRepoUtil.channelContentsFilename).toNIO)) { out =>
diff --git a/src/main/scala/sc4pac/Constants.scala b/src/main/scala/sc4pac/Constants.scala
index dcdd7c5..750e1e7 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/sc4pac/Constants.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/sc4pac/Constants.scala
@@ -15,11 +15,21 @@ object Constants {
   val sc4fileTypePattern = Pattern.compile("""\.dat|\.sc4model|\.sc4lot|\.sc4desc|\.sc4|\.dll$""", Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE)
   val versionLatestRelease = "latest.release"
   val defaultChannelUrls = Seq(MetadataRepository.parseChannelUrl("https://memo33.github.io/sc4pac/channel/").toOption.get)
-  // scheme version history:
+
+  // Channels are built with the maximum version.
+  // When incrementing the maximum, older sc4pac clients become incompatible
+  // with newer channels, forcing users to upgrade their clients.
+  //
+  // When incrementing the minimum, older channels become incompatible with
+  // newer sc4pac clients, forcing channel maintainers to rebuild the channels.
+  // The minimum must be incremented when introducing backward-incompatible changes.
+  //
+  // Scheme version history:
   // 1: initial version
   // 2: DLL support and single-file assets
   // 3: rar support
-  val currentChannelScheme = 3  // version number (incrementing this forces everyone accessing the channel to install a newer sc4pac version)
+  val channelSchemeVersions: Range = 1 to 3  // supported versions
+
   val bufferSizeExtract = 64 * 1024  // 64 kiB, bounded by disk speed
   val bufferSizeDownload = 1024 * 1024  // 1 MiB, bounded by download speed
   val bufferSizeDownloadOverlap = 4 * 1024  // for file validity check when resuming partial download
diff --git a/src/main/scala/sc4pac/MetadataRepository.scala b/src/main/scala/sc4pac/MetadataRepository.scala
index dfbbb19..41e1ce7 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/sc4pac/MetadataRepository.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/sc4pac/MetadataRepository.scala
@@ -140,12 +140,13 @@ object MetadataRepository {
         jsonVal <- ZIO.attemptBlockingIO(ujson.read(channelContentsFile.toNIO))
                      .mapError(e => s"Failed to read channel contents: $e")
         scheme  =  jsonVal.objOpt.flatMap(_.get("scheme")).map(_.num.toInt).getOrElse(0)
-        _       <- ZIO.when(scheme <= 0)(ZIO.fail(
-                     s"The channel $contentsUrl uses an old scheme ($scheme) that is not supported anymore."
+        _       <- ZIO.when(scheme < Constants.channelSchemeVersions.min)(ZIO.fail(
+                     s"The channel $contentsUrl uses an old scheme ($scheme) that is not supported anymore by your version of sc4pac." +
+                     " Contact the maintainer of the channel."
                    ))
-        _       <- ZIO.when(scheme > Constants.currentChannelScheme)(ZIO.fail(
+        _       <- ZIO.when(scheme > Constants.channelSchemeVersions.max)(ZIO.fail(
                      s"The channel $contentsUrl has a newer scheme ($scheme) than supported " +
-                     s"by your installation (${Constants.currentChannelScheme}). Please update to the latest version of sc4pac."
+                     s"by your installation (${Constants.channelSchemeVersions}). Please update to the latest version of sc4pac."
                    ))
         channel <- ZIO.attemptBlockingIO(JsonIo.readBlocking[JD.Channel](jsonVal, errMsg = contentsUrl))
                      .mapError(e => s"Failed to read channel contents: $e")
@@ -242,7 +243,7 @@ private class YamlRepository(
 
   // We pick the latest scheme version as we do not have any other input to work with.
   // If the scheme has been updated, then the yaml files have probably already failed to parse.
-  lazy private val channel = JD.Channel.create(scheme = Constants.currentChannelScheme, channelData)
+  lazy private val channel = JD.Channel.create(scheme = Constants.channelSchemeVersions.max, channelData)
 
   def iterateChannelContents: Iterator[JD.ChannelItem] = channel.contents.iterator
 }