diff --git a/airflow/api/common/experimental/trigger_dag.py b/airflow/api/common/experimental/trigger_dag.py
index ae04f2f0a204e..e749a2b5559bc 100644
--- a/airflow/api/common/experimental/trigger_dag.py
+++ b/airflow/api/common/experimental/trigger_dag.py
@@ -60,6 +60,14 @@ def _trigger_dag(
     if replace_microseconds:
         execution_date = execution_date.replace(microsecond=0)
 
+    if dag.default_args and 'start_date' in dag.default_args:
+        min_dag_start_date = dag.default_args["start_date"]
+        if min_dag_start_date and execution_date < min_dag_start_date:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "The execution_date [{0}] should be >= start_date [{1}] from DAG's default_args".format(
+                    execution_date.isoformat(),
+                    min_dag_start_date.isoformat()))
+
     if not run_id:
         run_id = "manual__{0}".format(execution_date.isoformat())
 
diff --git a/tests/api/common/experimental/test_trigger_dag.py b/tests/api/common/experimental/test_trigger_dag.py
index b787f840ffbc3..fe0b6375c765e 100644
--- a/tests/api/common/experimental/test_trigger_dag.py
+++ b/tests/api/common/experimental/test_trigger_dag.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 from airflow.api.common.experimental.trigger_dag import _trigger_dag
 from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException
 from airflow.models import DAG, DagRun
+from airflow.utils import timezone
 
 
 class TestTriggerDag(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -108,6 +109,46 @@ def test_trigger_dag_with_str_conf(self, dag_bag_mock):
 
         self.assertEqual(triggers[0].conf, json.loads(conf))
 
+    @mock.patch('airflow.models.DagBag')
+    def test_trigger_dag_with_too_early_start_date(self, dag_bag_mock):
+        dag_id = "trigger_dag_with_too_early_start_date"
+        dag = DAG(dag_id, default_args={'start_date': timezone.datetime(2016, 9, 5, 10, 10, 0)})
+        dag_bag_mock.dags = [dag_id]
+        dag_bag_mock.get_dag.return_value = dag
+        dag_run = DagRun()
+
+        self.assertRaises(
+            ValueError,
+            _trigger_dag,
+            dag_id,
+            dag_bag_mock,
+            dag_run,
+            run_id=None,
+            conf=None,
+            execution_date=timezone.datetime(2015, 7, 5, 10, 10, 0),
+            replace_microseconds=True,
+        )
+
+    @mock.patch('airflow.models.DagBag')
+    def test_trigger_dag_with_valid_start_date(self, dag_bag_mock):
+        dag_id = "trigger_dag_with_valid_start_date"
+        dag = DAG(dag_id, default_args={'start_date': timezone.datetime(2016, 9, 5, 10, 10, 0)})
+        dag_bag_mock.dags = [dag_id]
+        dag_bag_mock.get_dag.return_value = dag
+        dag_run = DagRun()
+
+        triggers = _trigger_dag(
+            dag_id,
+            dag_bag_mock,
+            dag_run,
+            run_id=None,
+            conf=None,
+            execution_date=timezone.datetime(2018, 7, 5, 10, 10, 0),
+            replace_microseconds=True,
+        )
+
+        assert len(triggers) == 1
+
     @mock.patch('airflow.models.DagBag')
     def test_trigger_dag_with_dict_conf(self, dag_bag_mock):
         dag_id = "trigger_dag_with_dict_conf"