diff --git a/src/common/util.cpp b/src/common/util.cpp
index e8ac61815..c834cb3bd 100644
--- a/src/common/util.cpp
+++ b/src/common/util.cpp
@@ -628,13 +628,13 @@ std::string get_nix_version_display_string()
   int vercmp(const char *v0, const char *v1)
   {
     std::vector<std::string> f0, f1;
-    boost::split(f0, v0, boost::is_any_of("."));
-    boost::split(f1, v1, boost::is_any_of("."));
-    while (f0.size() < f1.size())
-      f0.push_back("0");
-    while (f1.size() < f0.size())
-      f1.push_back("0");
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < f0.size(); ++i) {
+    boost::split(f0, v0, boost::is_any_of(".-"));
+    boost::split(f1, v1, boost::is_any_of(".-"));
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < std::max(f0.size(), f1.size()); ++i) {
+      if (i >= f0.size())
+        return -1;
+      if (i >= f1.size())
+        return 1;
       int f0i = atoi(f0[i].c_str()), f1i = atoi(f1[i].c_str());
       int n = f0i - f1i;
       if (n)
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/vercmp.cpp b/tests/unit_tests/vercmp.cpp
index d48dfdf7c..8f359585d 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/vercmp.cpp
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/vercmp.cpp
@@ -40,4 +40,6 @@ TEST(vercmp, two_one) { ASSERT_TRUE(tools::vercmp("2", "1") > 0); }
 TEST(vercmp, ten_nine) { ASSERT_TRUE(tools::vercmp("10", "9") > 0); }
 TEST(vercmp, one_dot_ten_one_dot_nine) { ASSERT_TRUE(tools::vercmp("1.10", "1.9") > 0); }
 TEST(vercmp, one_one_dot_nine) { ASSERT_TRUE(tools::vercmp("1", "1.9") < 0); }
+TEST(vercmp, to_master) { ASSERT_TRUE(tools::vercmp("1.0", "1.0-master") < 0); }
+TEST(vercmp, from_master) { ASSERT_TRUE(tools::vercmp("1.0-master", "1.1") < 0); }