diff --git a/tests/msvc/wscript b/tests/msvc/wscript
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..58d08fe9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/msvc/wscript
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env python3.1
+
+from waflib.Tools import msvc
+from waflib import Logs
+
+def configure(ctx):
+	pass
+
+def test(ctx):
+	errors = []
+	msvc_versions = ['wsdk 6.1', 'winphone 8.0', 'msvc 9.0', 'msvc 16.6', 'msvc 16.0', 'msvc 15.9', 'msvc 15.0', 'msvc 14.0', 'msvc 12.0', 'msvc 11.0']
+	sorted_versions = ['wsdk 6.1', 'winphone 8.0', 'msvc 16.6', 'msvc 16.0', 'msvc 15.9', 'msvc 15.0', 'msvc 14.0', 'msvc 12.0', 'msvc 11.0', 'msvc 9.0']
+
+	def tt(msg, result, expected):
+		color = 'RED'
+		if result == expected:
+			color = 'GREEN'
+		else:
+			errors.append(result)
+		Logs.pprint(color, msg.ljust(20) + " %r" % result)
+
+	tt('msvc version detection sort', sorted(msvc_versions, key=msvc.MSVCVersion, reverse=True), sorted_versions)
+
+	if errors:
+		ctx.fatal('There are test failures')
diff --git a/waflib/Tools/msvc.py b/waflib/Tools/msvc.py
index 0c4703aa..56769116 100644
--- a/waflib/Tools/msvc.py
+++ b/waflib/Tools/msvc.py
@@ -109,6 +109,16 @@ def options(opt):
 	opt.add_option('--msvc_targets', type='string', help = 'msvc targets, eg: "x64,arm"', default='')
 	opt.add_option('--no-msvc-lazy', action='store_false', help = 'lazily check msvc target environments', default=True, dest='msvc_lazy')
 
+class MSVCVersion:
+	def __init__(self, ver):
+		x = ver.split()
+		self.a = x[0]
+		self.b = float(x[1])
+
+	def __lt__(self, other):
+		if self.a == other.a: return self.b < other.b
+		return self.a < other.a
+
 @conf
 def setup_msvc(conf, versiondict):
 	"""
@@ -125,7 +135,9 @@ def setup_msvc(conf, versiondict):
 		platforms=Utils.to_list(conf.env.MSVC_TARGETS) or [i for i,j in all_msvc_platforms+all_icl_platforms+all_wince_platforms]
 	desired_versions = getattr(Options.options, 'msvc_version', '').split(',')
 	if desired_versions == ['']:
-		desired_versions = conf.env.MSVC_VERSIONS or list(reversed(sorted(versiondict.keys())))
+		def versionkey(x):
+			return float(x.split()[1])
+		desired_versions = conf.env.MSVC_VERSIONS or list(sorted(versiondict.keys(), key=MSVCVersion, reverse=True))
 
 	# Override lazy detection by evaluating after the fact.
 	lazy_detect = getattr(Options.options, 'msvc_lazy', True)