diff --git a/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/ivyint/MergeDescriptors.scala b/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/ivyint/MergeDescriptors.scala
index 413583066..6d0950fd9 100644
--- a/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/ivyint/MergeDescriptors.scala
+++ b/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/ivyint/MergeDescriptors.scala
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ private[sbt] object MergeDescriptors {
 
 // combines the artifacts, configurations, includes, and excludes for DependencyDescriptors `a` and `b`
 // that otherwise have equal IDs
-private final class MergedDescriptors(a: DependencyDescriptor, b: DependencyDescriptor) extends DependencyDescriptor {
+private[sbt] final case class MergedDescriptors(a: DependencyDescriptor, b: DependencyDescriptor) extends DependencyDescriptor {
   def getDependencyId = a.getDependencyId
   def isForce = a.isForce
   def isChanging = a.isChanging
@@ -87,11 +87,14 @@ private final class MergedDescriptors(a: DependencyDescriptor, b: DependencyDesc
     arts map { art => explicitConfigurations(base, art) }
   private[this] def explicitConfigurations(base: DependencyDescriptor, art: DependencyArtifactDescriptor): DependencyArtifactDescriptor =
     {
-      val aConfs = art.getConfigurations
-      if (aConfs == null || aConfs.isEmpty)
-        copyWithConfigurations(art, base.getModuleConfigurations)
-      else
-        art
+      val aConfs = Option(art.getConfigurations) map { _.toList }
+      // In case configuration list is "*", we should still specify the module configuration of the DependencyDescriptor
+      // otherwise the explicit specified artifacts from one dd can leak over to the other.
+      // See gh-1500, gh-2002
+      aConfs match {
+        case None | Some(Nil) | Some(List("*")) => copyWithConfigurations(art, base.getModuleConfigurations)
+        case _                                  => art
+      }
     }
   private[this] def defaultArtifact(a: DependencyDescriptor): Array[DependencyArtifactDescriptor] =
     {
diff --git a/ivy/src/test/scala/MergeDescriptorSpec.scala b/ivy/src/test/scala/MergeDescriptorSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a977ef112
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ivy/src/test/scala/MergeDescriptorSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package sbt
+
+import sbt.ivyint.MergedDescriptors
+import org.specs2._
+import org.apache.ivy.core.module.descriptor.{ DependencyArtifactDescriptor, DependencyDescriptor }
+
+class MergeDescriptorSpec extends BaseIvySpecification {
+  def is = args(sequential = true) ^ s2"""
+
+  This is a specification to check the merge descriptor
+
+  Merging duplicate dependencies should
+    work                                                        $e1
+                                                                """
+
+  def guavaTest = ModuleID("com.google.guava", "guava-tests", "18.0", configurations = Some("compile"))
+  def guavaTestTests = ModuleID("com.google.guava", "guava-tests", "18.0", configurations = Some("test")).classifier("tests")
+  def defaultOptions = EvictionWarningOptions.default
+
+  import ShowLines._
+
+  def e1 = {
+    cleanIvyCache()
+    val m = module(ModuleID("com.example", "foo", "0.1.0", Some("compile")),
+      Seq(guavaTest, guavaTestTests), None, UpdateOptions())
+    m.withModule(log) {
+      case (ivy, md, _) =>
+        val deps = md.getDependencies
+        assert(deps.size == 1)
+        deps.head match {
+          case dd @ MergedDescriptors(dd0, dd1) =>
+            val arts = dd.getAllDependencyArtifacts
+            val a0: DependencyArtifactDescriptor = arts.toList(0)
+            val a1: DependencyArtifactDescriptor = arts.toList(1)
+            val configs0 = a0.getConfigurations.toList
+            val configs1 = a1.getConfigurations.toList
+            (configs0 must_== List("compile")) and
+              (configs1 must_== List("test"))
+        }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/notes/0.13.12/merge-descriptor-fix.md b/notes/0.13.12/merge-descriptor-fix.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..715242291
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notes/0.13.12/merge-descriptor-fix.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+  [@eed3si9n]: https://github.com/eed3si9n
+  [1500]: https://github.com/sbt/sbt/issues/1500
+  [2002]: https://github.com/sbt/sbt/issues/2002
+
+### Bug fixes
+
+- Fixes merged dependency descriptors dropping configuration specification. [#2002][2005]/[#1500][1500] by [@eed3si9n][@eed3si9n]