diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 905020a39c..db159a45ad 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -312,6 +312,8 @@ impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for Config {
             return Ok(Config::from_legacy(raw));
         }
 
+        warn_on_invalid_fields(&raw);
+
         use serde::de::Error;
         let mut table = match raw {
             Value::Table(t) => t,
@@ -376,6 +378,17 @@ fn parse_env(key: &str) -> Option<String> {
         .map(|key| key.to_lowercase().replace("__", ".").replace('_', "-"))
 }
 
+fn warn_on_invalid_fields(table: &Value) {
+    let valid_items = ["book", "build", "rust", "output", "preprocessor"];
+
+    let table = table.as_table().expect("root must be a table");
+    for item in table.keys() {
+        if !valid_items.contains(&item.as_str()) {
+            warn!("Invalid field {:?} in book.toml", &item);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 fn is_legacy_format(table: &Value) -> bool {
     let legacy_items = [
         "title",