diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/Version.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/Version.java
index 474b220a9c5..bac6ccbf3fd 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/Version.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/Version.java
@@ -28,8 +28,9 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.monitor.jvm.JvmInfo;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Comparator;
 
-public class Version {
+public class Version implements Comparable<Version> {
     /*
      * The logic for ID is: XXYYZZAA, where XX is major version, YY is minor version, ZZ is revision, and AA is alpha/beta/rc indicator AA
      * values below 25 are for alpha builder (since 5.0), and above 25 and below 50 are beta builds, and below 99 are RC builds, with 99
@@ -310,6 +311,11 @@ public class Version {
         return version.id >= id;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public int compareTo(Version other) {
+        return Integer.compare(this.id, other.id);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns the minimum compatible version based on the current
      * version. Ie a node needs to have at least the return version in order
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/VersionTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/VersionTests.java
index 1c9964547b0..35c36bee643 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/VersionTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/VersionTests.java
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ import static org.elasticsearch.Version.V_5_0_0_alpha1;
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.VersionUtils.randomVersion;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.greaterThan;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.lessThan;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.lessThanOrEqualTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.sameInstance;
 
 public class VersionTests extends ESTestCase {
@@ -64,6 +67,10 @@ public class VersionTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertTrue(Version.fromString("5.0.0").onOrAfter(Version.fromString("5.0.0-beta2")));
         assertTrue(Version.fromString("5.0.0-rc1").onOrAfter(Version.fromString("5.0.0-beta24")));
         assertTrue(Version.fromString("5.0.0-alpha24").before(Version.fromString("5.0.0-beta0")));
+
+        assertThat(V_2_2_0, is(lessThan(V_5_0_0_alpha1)));
+        assertThat(V_2_2_0.compareTo(V_2_2_0), is(0));
+        assertThat(V_5_0_0_alpha1, is(greaterThan(V_2_2_0)));
     }
 
     public void testMin() {