diff --git a/compat/src/render.js b/compat/src/render.js
index 41db9aa689..bbd1416109 100644
--- a/compat/src/render.js
+++ b/compat/src/render.js
@@ -261,14 +261,28 @@ options.vnode = vnode => {
 	if (oldVNodeHook) oldVNodeHook(vnode);
 };
 
-// Only needed for react-relay
+let renderCount = 0;
 let currentComponent;
 const oldBeforeRender = options._render;
 options._render = function (vnode) {
 	if (oldBeforeRender) {
 		oldBeforeRender(vnode);
 	}
-	currentComponent = vnode._component;
+
+	const nextComponent = vnode._component;
+	if (nextComponent === currentComponent) {
+		renderCount++;
+	} else {
+		renderCount = 1;
+	}
+
+	if (renderCount >= 25) {
+		throw new Error(
+			`Too many re-renders. Preact/compat limits the number of renders to prevent an infinite loop.`
+		);
+	}
+
+	currentComponent = nextComponent;
 };
 
 const oldDiffed = options.diffed;
diff --git a/compat/test/browser/render.test.js b/compat/test/browser/render.test.js
index 0bfb021be7..12c83cb379 100644
--- a/compat/test/browser/render.test.js
+++ b/compat/test/browser/render.test.js
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ import React, {
 	render,
 	Component,
 	hydrate,
-	createContext
+	createContext,
+	useState,
+	Fragment
 } from 'preact/compat';
 import { setupRerender, act } from 'preact/test-utils';
 import {
@@ -512,4 +514,35 @@ describe('compat render', () => {
 
 		expect(scratch.textContent).to.equal('foo');
 	});
+
+	it('throws an error if a component rerenders too many times', () => {
+		let rerenderCount = 0;
+		function TestComponent({ loop = false }) {
+			const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
+			if (loop) {
+				setCount(count + 1);
+			}
+
+			if (count > 30) {
+				expect.fail(
+					'Repeated rerenders did not cause the expected error. This test is failing.'
+				);
+			}
+
+			rerenderCount += 1;
+			return <div />;
+		}
+
+		expect(() => {
+			render(
+				<Fragment>
+					<TestComponent />
+					<TestComponent loop />
+				</Fragment>,
+				scratch
+			);
+		}).to.throw(/Too many re-renders/);
+		// 1 for first TestComponent + 24 for second TestComponent
+		expect(rerenderCount).to.equal(25);
+	});
 });