diff --git a/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/CrossVersion.scala b/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/CrossVersion.scala
index 59b51c795..917f5318f 100644
--- a/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/CrossVersion.scala
+++ b/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/CrossVersion.scala
@@ -67,9 +67,41 @@ object CrossVersion
 			m
 	}
 
-	def isStable(v: String): Boolean = !v.contains("-")
+	// @deprecated("Use CrossVersion.isScalaApiCompatible or CrossVersion.isSbtApiCompatible", "0.13.0")
+	def isStable(v: String): Boolean = isScalaApiCompatible(v)
+	// @deprecated("Use CrossVersion.scalaApiVersion or CrossVersion.sbtApiVersion", "0.13.0")
 	def selectVersion(full: String, binary: String): String = if(isStable(full)) binary else full
-
+	def isSbtApiCompatible(v: String): Boolean = sbtApiVersion(v).isDefined
+	/** Returns sbt binary interface x.y API compatible with the given version string v. 
+	 * RCs for x.y.0 are considered API compatible.
+	 * Compatibile versions include 0.12.0-1 and 0.12.0-RC1 for Some(0, 12).
+	 */
+	def sbtApiVersion(v: String): Option[(Int, Int)] =
+	{
+		val ReleaseV = """(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)(-\d+)?""".r
+		val CandidateV = """(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)(-RC\d+)""".r
+		val NonReleaseV = """(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)(-\w+)""".r
+		v match {
+			case ReleaseV(x, y, z, ht)    => Some((x.toInt, y.toInt))
+			case CandidateV(x, y, z, ht)  => Some((x.toInt, y.toInt))
+			case NonReleaseV(x, y, z, ht) if z.toInt > 0 => Some((x.toInt, y.toInt))
+			case _ => None
+		}
+	}
+	def isScalaApiCompatible(v: String): Boolean = scalaApiVersion(v).isDefined
+	/** Returns Scala binary interface x.y API compatible with the given version string v. 
+	 * Compatibile versions include 2.10.0-1 and 2.10.1-M1 for Some(2, 10), but not 2.10.0-RC1.
+	 */
+	def scalaApiVersion(v: String): Option[(Int, Int)] =
+	{
+		val ReleaseV = """(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)(-\d+)?""".r
+		val NonReleaseV = """(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)(-\w+)""".r
+		v match {
+			case ReleaseV(x, y, z, ht)    => Some((x.toInt, y.toInt))
+			case NonReleaseV(x, y, z, ht) if z.toInt > 0 => Some((x.toInt, y.toInt))
+			case _ => None
+		}
+	}
 	val PartialVersion = """(\d+)\.(\d+)(?:\..+)?""".r
 	def partialVersion(s: String): Option[(Int,Int)] =
 		s match {
@@ -79,12 +111,13 @@ object CrossVersion
 	private[this] def isNewer(major: Int, minor: Int, minMajor: Int, minMinor: Int): Boolean =
 		major > minMajor || (major == minMajor && minor >= minMinor)
 	
-	def binaryScalaVersion(full: String): String = binaryVersion(full, TransitionScalaVersion)
-	def binarySbtVersion(full: String): String = binaryVersion(full, TransitionSbtVersion)
-	def binaryVersion(full: String, cutoff: String): String =
+	def binaryScalaVersion(full: String): String = binaryVersionWithApi(full, TransitionScalaVersion)(scalaApiVersion)
+	def binarySbtVersion(full: String): String = binaryVersionWithApi(full, TransitionSbtVersion)(sbtApiVersion)
+	def binaryVersion(full: String, cutoff: String): String = binaryVersionWithApi(full, cutoff)(scalaApiVersion)
+	private[this] def binaryVersionWithApi(full: String, cutoff: String)(apiVersion: String => Option[(Int,Int)]): String =
 	{
 		def sub(major: Int, minor: Int) = major + "." + minor
-		(partialVersion(full), partialVersion(cutoff)) match {
+		(apiVersion(full), partialVersion(cutoff)) match {
 			case (Some((major, minor)), None) => sub(major, minor)
 			case (Some((major, minor)), Some((minMajor, minMinor))) if isNewer(major, minor, minMajor, minMinor) => sub(major, minor)
 			case _ => full