diff --git a/src/electrum.rs b/src/electrum.rs
index d815d63a3..fed999454 100644
--- a/src/electrum.rs
+++ b/src/electrum.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ use serde_derive::Deserialize;
 use serde_json::{self, json, Value};
 
 use std::collections::{hash_map::Entry, HashMap};
+use std::fmt;
 use std::iter::FromIterator;
+use std::str::FromStr;
 
 use crate::{
     cache::Cache,
@@ -54,9 +56,9 @@ enum Requests {
 
 #[derive(Deserialize, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
 #[serde(untagged)]
-enum Version {
+enum VersionRequest {
     Single(String),
-    Range(String, String),
+    MinMax(String, String),
 }
 
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
@@ -437,20 +439,13 @@ impl Rpc {
         format!("electrs/{}", ELECTRS_VERSION)
     }
 
-    fn version(&self, (client_id, client_version): &(String, Version)) -> Result<Value> {
+    fn version(&self, (client_id, client_version): &(String, VersionRequest)) -> Result<Value> {
         match client_version {
-            Version::Single(v) if v == PROTOCOL_VERSION => {
-                Ok(json!([self.server_id(), PROTOCOL_VERSION]))
-            }
-            _ => {
-                bail!(
-                    "{} requested {:?}, server supports {}",
-                    client_id,
-                    client_version,
-                    PROTOCOL_VERSION
-                );
-            }
+            VersionRequest::Single(exact) => check_between(PROTOCOL_VERSION, exact, exact),
+            VersionRequest::MinMax(min, max) => check_between(PROTOCOL_VERSION, min, max),
         }
+        .with_context(|| format!("unsupported request {:?} by {}", client_version, client_id))?;
+        Ok(json!([self.server_id(), PROTOCOL_VERSION]))
     }
 
     fn features(&self) -> Result<Value> {
@@ -594,7 +589,7 @@ enum Params {
     TransactionGet(TxGetArgs),
     TransactionGetMerkle((Txid, usize)),
     TransactionFromPosition((usize, usize, bool)),
-    Version((String, Version)),
+    Version((String, VersionRequest)),
 }
 
 impl Params {
@@ -726,3 +721,66 @@ fn parse_requests(line: &str) -> Result<Requests, StandardError> {
         }
     }
 }
+
+fn parse_version(version: &str) -> Result<Version> {
+    let result = version
+        .split('.')
+        .map(|part| usize::from_str(part).with_context(|| format!("invalid version {}", version)))
+        .collect::<Result<Vec<usize>>>()?;
+    Ok(Version(result))
+}
+
+#[derive(PartialOrd, PartialEq, Debug)]
+struct Version(Vec<usize>);
+
+impl fmt::Display for Version {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        for (i, v) in self.0.iter().enumerate() {
+            if i > 0 {
+                write!(f, ".")?;
+            }
+            write!(f, "{}", v)?;
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
+fn check_between(version_str: &str, min_str: &str, max_str: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    let version = parse_version(version_str)?;
+    let min = parse_version(min_str)?;
+    if version < min {
+        bail!("version {} < {}", version, min);
+    }
+    let max = parse_version(max_str)?;
+    if version > max {
+        bail!("version {} > {}", version, max);
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::{check_between, parse_version, Version};
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_version() {
+        assert_eq!(parse_version("1").unwrap(), Version(vec![1]));
+        assert_eq!(parse_version("1.2").unwrap(), Version(vec![1, 2]));
+        assert_eq!(parse_version("1.2.345").unwrap(), Version(vec![1, 2, 345]));
+
+        assert!(parse_version("1.2").unwrap() < parse_version("1.100").unwrap());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_between() {
+        assert!(check_between("1.4", "1.4", "1.4").is_ok());
+        assert!(check_between("1.4", "1.4", "1.5").is_ok());
+        assert!(check_between("1.4", "1.3", "1.4").is_ok());
+        assert!(check_between("1.4", "1.3", "1.5").is_ok());
+
+        assert!(check_between("1.4", "1.5", "1.5").is_err());
+        assert!(check_between("1.4", "1.3", "1.3").is_err());
+        assert!(check_between("1.4", "1.4.1", "1.5").is_err());
+        assert!(check_between("1.4", "1", "1").is_err());
+    }
+}