diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 802360ad5..b81cb4a1c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,28 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
 project(eosio_contracts VERSION 1.3.1)
 
-set(EOSIO_DEPENDENCY "1.2")
-set(EOSIO_CDT_DEPENDENCY "1.2")
+set(EOSIO_CDT_VERSION_MIN "1.2") # REMINDER: Change this to 1.3 before release
+set(EOSIO_CDT_VERSION_SOFT_MAX "1.3")
+#set(EOSIO_CDT_VERSION_HARD_MAX "")
+
+include(CheckVersion.txt)
+
+find_package(eosio.cdt)
+
+### Check the version of eosio.cdt
+set(VERSION_MATCH_ERROR_MSG "")
+EOSIO_CHECK_VERSION(VERSION_OUTPUT "${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION}"
+                                   "${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION_MIN}"
+                                   "${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION_SOFT_MAX}"
+                                   "${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION_HARD_MAX}"
+                                   VERSION_MATCH_ERROR_MSG)
+if(VERSION_OUTPUT STREQUAL "MATCH")
+   message(STATUS "Using eosio.cdt version ${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION}")
+elseif(VERSION_OUTPUT STREQUAL "WARN")
+   message(WARNING "Using eosio.cdt version ${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION} even though it exceeds the maximum supported version of ${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION_SOFT_MAX}; continuing with configuration, however build may fail.\nIt is recommended to use eosio.cdt version ${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION_SOFT_MAX}.x")
+else() # INVALID OR MISMATCH
+   message(FATAL_ERROR "Found eosio.cdt version ${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION} but it does not satisfy version requirements: ${VERSION_MATCH_ERROR_MSG}\nPlease use eosio.cdt version ${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION_SOFT_MAX}.x")
+endif(VERSION_OUTPUT STREQUAL "MATCH")
 
 if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Debug")
    set(TEST_BUILD_TYPE "Debug")
@@ -11,20 +31,7 @@ else()
    set(TEST_BUILD_TYPE ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE})
 endif()
 
-if(EOSIO_ROOT STREQUAL "" OR NOT EOSIO_ROOT)
-   set(EOSIO_ROOT "/usr/local/eosio")
-endif()
-
-find_package(eosio.cdt)
-
-### Check the version of eosio.cdt
-string(FIND "${EOSIO_CDT_VERSION}" "${EOSIO_CDT_DEPENDENCY}" output)
-
-if (NOT "${output}" EQUAL 0)
-   message(FATAL_ERROR "Incorrect EOSIO.CDT version, please use version ${EOSIO_CDT_DEPENDENCY}.x")
-endif()
 
-include_directories(AFTER ${BOOST_ROOT}/include)
 add_subdirectory(eosio.bios)
 add_subdirectory(eosio.msig)
 add_subdirectory(eosio.sudo)
diff --git a/CheckVersion.txt b/CheckVersion.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ffd285619
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CheckVersion.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+function(EXTRACT_MAJOR_MINOR_FROM_VERSION version success major minor)
+   string(REGEX REPLACE "^([0-9]+)\\..+$" "\\1" _major "${version}")
+   if("${_major}" STREQUAL "${version}")
+      set(${success} FALSE PARENT_SCOPE)
+      return()
+   endif()
+
+   string(REGEX REPLACE "^[0-9]+\\.([0-9]+)(\\..*)?$" "\\1" _minor "${version}")
+   if("${_minor}" STREQUAL "${version}")
+      set(success FALSE PARENT_SCOPE)
+      return()
+   endif()
+
+   set(${major}   ${_major} PARENT_SCOPE)
+   set(${minor}   ${_minor} PARENT_SCOPE)
+   set(${success} TRUE      PARENT_SCOPE)
+endfunction(EXTRACT_MAJOR_MINOR_FROM_VERSION)
+
+function(EOSIO_CHECK_VERSION output version hard_min soft_max hard_max) # optional 6th argument for error message
+   set(${output} "INVALID" PARENT_SCOPE)
+
+   EXTRACT_MAJOR_MINOR_FROM_VERSION("${version}" success major minor)
+   if(NOT success)
+      if(${ARGC} GREATER 5)
+         set(${ARGV5} "version '${version}' is invalid" PARENT_SCOPE)
+      endif()
+      return()
+   endif()
+
+   EXTRACT_MAJOR_MINOR_FROM_VERSION("${hard_min}" success hard_min_major hard_min_minor)
+   if(NOT success)
+      if(${ARGC} GREATER 5)
+         set(${ARGV5} "hard minimum version '${hard_min}' is invalid" PARENT_SCOPE)
+      endif()
+      return()
+   endif()
+
+   if( "${major}.${minor}" VERSION_LESS "${hard_min_major}.${hard_min_minor}" )
+      set(${output} "MISMATCH" PARENT_SCOPE)
+      if(${ARGC} GREATER 5)
+         set(${ARGV5} "version '${version}' does not meet hard minimum version requirement of ${hard_min_major}.${hard_min_minor}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+      endif()
+      return()
+   endif()
+
+   if(NOT hard_max STREQUAL "")
+      EXTRACT_MAJOR_MINOR_FROM_VERSION("${hard_max}" success hard_max_major hard_max_minor)
+      if(NOT success)
+         if(${ARGC} GREATER 5)
+            set(${ARGV5} "hard maximum version '${hard_max}' is invalid" PARENT_SCOPE)
+         endif()
+         return()
+      endif()
+
+      if( "${major}.${minor}" VERSION_GREATER "${hard_max_major}.${hard_max_minor}" )
+         set(${output} "MISMATCH" PARENT_SCOPE)
+         if(${ARGC} GREATER 5)
+            set(${ARGV5} "version '${version}' does not meet hard maximum version requirement of ${hard_max_major}.${hard_max_minor}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+         endif()
+         return()
+      endif()
+   endif()
+
+   EXTRACT_MAJOR_MINOR_FROM_VERSION("${soft_max}" success soft_max_major soft_max_minor)
+   if(NOT success)
+      set(${output} "MISMATCH" PARENT_SCOPE)
+      if(${ARGC} GREATER 5)
+         set(${ARGV5} "soft maximum version '${soft_max}' is invalid" PARENT_SCOPE)
+      endif()
+      return()
+   endif()
+
+   if( ${major} GREATER ${soft_max_major} )
+      set(${output} "MISMATCH" PARENT_SCOPE)
+      if(${ARGC} GREATER 5)
+         set(${ARGV5} "version '${version}' must have the same major version as the soft maximum version (${soft_max_major})" PARENT_SCOPE)
+      endif()
+      return()
+   endif()
+
+   if( "${major}.${minor}" VERSION_GREATER "${soft_max_major}.${soft_max_minor}" )
+      set(${output} "WARN" PARENT_SCOPE)
+      if(${ARGC} GREATER 5)
+         set(${ARGV5} "version '${version}' matches requirements but is greater than the soft maximum version of ${soft_max_major}.${soft_max_minor}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+      endif()
+      return()
+   endif()
+
+   set(${output} "MATCH" PARENT_SCOPE)
+endfunction(EOSIO_CHECK_VERSION)
diff --git a/UnitTestsExternalProject.txt b/UnitTestsExternalProject.txt
index b7f9af503..3da9f16f9 100644
--- a/UnitTestsExternalProject.txt
+++ b/UnitTestsExternalProject.txt
@@ -3,9 +3,8 @@ find_package(Git REQUIRED)
 include(GNUInstallDirs)
 
 ExternalProject_Add(
-  contracts_unit_tests 
-  CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${TEST_BUILD_TYPE} -DEOSIO_ROOT=${EOSIO_ROOT} -DEOSIO_DEPENDENCY=${EOSIO_DEPENDENCY}
-
+  contracts_unit_tests
+  CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${TEST_BUILD_TYPE} -DEOSIO_ROOT=${EOSIO_ROOT}
   SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests
   BINARY_DIR ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/tests
   BUILD_ALWAYS 1
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 12b6d8f1b..7e6132cf3 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,13 +1,32 @@
 cmake_minimum_required( VERSION 3.5 )
 
+set(EOSIO_VERSION_MIN "1.2")
+set(EOSIO_VERSION_SOFT_MAX "1.2")
+#set(EOSIO_VERSION_HARD_MAX "")
+
+include(../CheckVersion.txt)
+
+if(EOSIO_ROOT STREQUAL "" OR NOT EOSIO_ROOT)
+   set(EOSIO_ROOT "/usr/local/eosio")
+endif()
+
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${EOSIO_ROOT}/lib/cmake)
 include(EosioTester)
 
-### check the version of EOSIO
-string(FIND "${EOSIO_VERSION}" "${EOSIO_DEPENDENCY}" output)
-if (NOT "${output}" EQUAL 0)
-   message(FATAL_ERROR "Incorrect EOSIO version, please use version ${EOSIO_DEPENDENCY}.x")
-endif()
+### Check the version of eosio
+set(VERSION_MATCH_ERROR_MSG "")
+EOSIO_CHECK_VERSION(VERSION_OUTPUT "${EOSIO_VERSION}"
+                                   "${EOSIO_VERSION_MIN}"
+                                   "${EOSIO_VERSION_SOFT_MAX}"
+                                   "${EOSIO_VERSION_HARD_MAX}"
+                                   VERSION_MATCH_ERROR_MSG)
+if(VERSION_OUTPUT STREQUAL "MATCH")
+   message(STATUS "Using eosio version ${EOSIO_VERSION}")
+elseif(VERSION_OUTPUT STREQUAL "WARN")
+   message(WARNING "Using eosio version ${EOSIO_VERSION} even though it exceeds the maximum supported version of ${EOSIO_VERSION_SOFT_MAX}; continuing with configuration, however build may fail.\nIt is recommended to use eosio version ${EOSIO_VERSION_SOFT_MAX}.x")
+else() # INVALID OR MISMATCH
+   message(FATAL_ERROR "Found eosio version ${EOSIO_VERSION} but it does not satisfy version requirements: ${VERSION_MATCH_ERROR_MSG}\nPlease use eosio version ${EOSIO_VERSION_SOFT_MAX}.x")
+endif(VERSION_OUTPUT STREQUAL "MATCH")
 
 
 enable_testing()