diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 76810f3..892fb9d 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2015-01-12, Version 2.6.1
+=========================
+
+ * Fix "incompatible loopback version" check & msg (Miroslav Bajtoš)
+
+
 2015-01-08, Version 2.6.0
 =========================
 
diff --git a/lib/executor.js b/lib/executor.js
index 0e151d5..a4f51b9 100644
--- a/lib/executor.js
+++ b/lib/executor.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ var semver = require('semver');
 var debug = require('debug')('loopback:boot:executor');
 var async = require('async');
 var path = require('path');
+var format = require('util').format;
 
 /**
  * Execute bootstrap instructions gathered by `boot.compile`.
@@ -73,12 +74,17 @@ function assertLoopBackVersion(app) {
   var RANGE = '1.x || 2.x';
 
   var loopback = app.loopback;
-  if (!semver.satisfies(loopback.version || '1.0.0', RANGE)) {
-    throw new Error(
-        'The `app` is powered by an incompatible loopback version %s. ' +
-        'Supported versions: %s',
-        loopback.version || '(unknown)',
+  // remove any pre-release tag from the version string,
+  // because semver has special treatment of pre-release versions,
+  // while loopback-boot treats pre-releases the same way as regular versions
+  var version = (loopback.version || '1.0.0').replace(/-.*$/, '');
+  if (!semver.satisfies(version, RANGE)) {
+    var msg = format(
+      'The `app` is powered by an incompatible loopback version %s. ' +
+      'Supported versions: %s',
+      loopback.version || '(unknown)',
       RANGE);
+    throw new Error(msg);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3852a5b..d7b16bc 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "loopback-boot",
-  "version": "2.6.0",
+  "version": "2.6.1",
   "description": "Convention-based bootstrapper for LoopBack applications",
   "keywords": [
     "StrongLoop",