diff --git a/src/emsarray/conventions/_fixes.py b/src/emsarray/conventions/_fixes.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bdb45952
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/emsarray/conventions/_fixes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import abc
+import dataclasses
+import warnings
+from typing import Callable
+
+import numpy
+
+from emsarray.conventions._base import Convention
+
+
+@dataclasses.dataclass()
+class Hotfix:
+    hotfix_cls: type
+    implements: set[str]
+    warning: str
+
+    def apply(self, convention_cls: type[Convention]) -> type[Convention]:
+        warnings.warn(self.warning.format(convention=convention_cls.__name__))
+        patched_cls = type(convention_cls.__name__, (self.hotfix_cls, convention_cls), {})
+        abc.update_abstractmethods(patched_cls)
+        return patched_cls
+
+
+hotfixes: list[Hotfix] = []
+
+
+def register_hotfix(
+    implements: set[str],
+    warning: str,
+) -> Callable[[type], type]:
+    def decorator(hotfix_cls: type) -> type:
+        hotfixes.append(Hotfix(hotfix_cls=hotfix_cls, implements=implements, warning=warning))
+        return hotfix_cls
+    return decorator
+
+
+def hotfix_convention(convention_cls: type[Convention]) -> type[Convention]:
+    abstract_methods: frozenset[str] = getattr(convention_cls, '__abstractmethods__', frozenset())
+    if not abstract_methods:
+        return convention_cls
+
+    to_apply = []
+    for hotfix in hotfixes:
+        if hotfix.implements.issubset(abstract_methods):
+            to_apply.append(hotfix)
+            abstract_methods = abstract_methods - hotfix.implements
+
+    if abstract_methods:
+        patched = convention_cls.__abstractmethods__ - abstract_methods
+        raise Exception(
+            f"Convention {convention_cls.__module__}.{convention_cls.__qualname__} "
+            f"is missing implementations for methods {', '.join(convention_cls.__abstractmethods__)}. "
+            f"Hotfixes were unavailable for methods {', '.join(sorted(patched))}."
+        )
+
+    for hotfix in to_apply:
+        convention_cls = hotfix.apply(convention_cls)
+
+    return convention_cls
+
+
+@register_hotfix(
+    {'_make_polygons'},
+    "{convention} class implements `polygons`, which was renamed to `_make_polygons` in 0.8.0",
+)
+class MakePolygonHotfix:
+    polygons = Convention.polygons
+
+    def _make_polygons(self) -> numpy.ndarray:
+        return super().polygons  # type: ignore
diff --git a/src/emsarray/conventions/_registry.py b/src/emsarray/conventions/_registry.py
index 088c1335..24164af8 100644
--- a/src/emsarray/conventions/_registry.py
+++ b/src/emsarray/conventions/_registry.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import xarray
 
 from ._base import Convention
+from ._fixes import hotfix_convention
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ def entry_point_conventions(self) -> list[type[Convention]]:
             All the :class:`~emsarray.conventions.Convention` subclasses registered
             via the ``emsarray.conventions`` entry point.
         """
-        return list(entry_point_conventions())
+        return list(hotfix_convention(c) for c in entry_point_conventions())
 
     def add_convention(self, convention: type[Convention]) -> None:
         """Register a Convention subclass with this registry.
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ def add_convention(self, convention: type[Convention]) -> None:
         """
         with suppress(AttributeError):
             del self.conventions
-        self.registered_conventions.append(convention)
+        self.registered_conventions.append(hotfix_convention(convention))
 
     def match_conventions(self, dataset: xarray.Dataset) -> list[tuple[type[Convention], int]]:
         """