diff --git a/doc/pacman.8.txt b/doc/pacman.8.txt
index 2a640f8f..59853812 100644
--- a/doc/pacman.8.txt
+++ b/doc/pacman.8.txt
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ You can also use `pacman -Su` to upgrade all packages that are out of date. See
 to determine which packages need upgrading. This behavior operates as follows:
 
   Alphanumeric:
-    1.0a < 1.0alpha < 1.0b < 1.0beta < 1.0p < 1.0pre < 1.0rc < 1.0
+    1.0a < 1.0b < 1.0beta < 1.0p < 1.0pre < 1.0rc < 1.0 < 1.0.a < 1.0.1
   Numeric:
     1 < 1.0 < 1.1 < 1.1.1 < 1.2 < 2.0 < 3.0.0
 +
diff --git a/doc/vercmp.8.txt b/doc/vercmp.8.txt
index a3bc5611..4b0490fa 100644
--- a/doc/vercmp.8.txt
+++ b/doc/vercmp.8.txt
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ numbers. It outputs values as follows:
 Version comparsion operates as follows:
 
   Alphanumeric:
-    1.0a < 1.0alpha < 1.0b < 1.0beta < 1.0p < 1.0pre < 1.0rc < 1.0
+    1.0a < 1.0b < 1.0beta < 1.0p < 1.0pre < 1.0rc < 1.0 < 1.0.a < 1.0.1
   Numeric:
     1 < 1.0 < 1.1 < 1.1.1 < 1.2 < 2.0 < 3.0.0
 
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/version.c b/lib/libalpm/version.c
index 73d6a660..6b65a413 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/version.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/version.c
@@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ static int rpmvercmp(const char *a, const char *b)
 	str1 = strdup(a);
 	str2 = strdup(b);
 
-	one = str1;
-	two = str2;
+	one = ptr1 = str1;
+	two = ptr2 = str2;
 
 	/* loop through each version segment of str1 and str2 and compare them */
 	while (*one && *two) {
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@ static int rpmvercmp(const char *a, const char *b)
 		/* If we ran to the end of either, we are finished with the loop */
 		if (!(*one && *two)) break;
 
+		/* If the separator lengths were different, we are also finished */
+		if ((one - ptr1) != (two - ptr2)) {
+			return (one - ptr1) < (two - ptr2) ? -1 : 1;
+		}
+
 		ptr1 = one;
 		ptr2 = two;
 
diff --git a/test/util/vercmptest.sh b/test/util/vercmptest.sh
index 54ede04b..6b4bcbc2 100755
--- a/test/util/vercmptest.sh
+++ b/test/util/vercmptest.sh
@@ -118,6 +118,12 @@ runtest 1.5.1    1.5.b   1
 runtest 1.5.b-1  1.5.b   0
 runtest 1.5-1    1.5.b  -1
 
+# same/similar content, differing separators
+runtest 2.0    2_0     0
+runtest 2.0_a  2_0.a   0
+runtest 2.0a   2.0.a  -1
+runtest 2___a  2_a     1
+
 # epoch included version comparisons
 runtest 0:1.0    0:1.0   0
 runtest 0:1.0    0:1.1  -1