diff --git a/src/bin/bindgen.rs b/src/bin/bindgen.rs
index c66a3744..4c884448 100755
--- a/src/bin/bindgen.rs
+++ b/src/bin/bindgen.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ extern crate log;
 extern crate clang_sys;
 extern crate rustc_serialize;
 
-use bindgen::{BindgenOptions, Bindings, LinkType, clang_version};
+use bindgen::{BindgenOptions, Bindings, LinkType, ClangVersion, clang_version};
 use std::default::Default;
 use std::env;
 use std::fs;
@@ -217,15 +217,26 @@ pub fn main() {
 
     let mut bind_args: Vec<_> = env::args().collect();
 
-    let clang_version = clang_version();
-
-    if cfg!(feature = "llvm_stable") {
-        assert_eq!(clang_version, "3.8.0");
-    } else {
-        assert_eq!(clang_version, "3.9.0");
-    }
-
-    debug!("Using Clang Version: {}", clang_version);
+    match clang_version() {
+        None => {
+            error!("Could not retrieve Clang version...")
+        },
+        Some(v) => {
+            if cfg!(feature = "llvm_stable") {
+                if (v.major,v.minor) != (3,8) {
+                    error!("Got Clang {}.{}, expected 3.8", v.major, v.minor)
+                } else {
+                    info!("Using: {}", v.full)
+                }
+            } else {
+                if (v.major, v.minor) != (3,9) {
+                    error!("Got Clang {}.{}, expected 3.9", v.major, v.minor)
+                } else {
+                    info!("Using: {}", v.full)
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    };
 
     if let Some(clang) = clang_sys::support::Clang::find(None) {
         let has_clang_args =
diff --git a/src/clang.rs b/src/clang.rs
index a8e4fdf2..437c3f15 100755
--- a/src/clang.rs
+++ b/src/clang.rs
@@ -1427,6 +1427,7 @@ pub fn ast_dump(c: &Cursor, depth: isize) -> Enum_CXVisitorResult {
     CXChildVisit_Continue
 }
 
+/// Try to extract the clang version to a string
 pub fn extract_clang_version() -> Option<String> {
     let s: String =
         unsafe { clang_getClangVersion().into() };
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 5124c417..c3e9203b 100755
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -449,14 +449,33 @@ fn parse(context: &mut BindgenContext) {
             "How did this happen?");
 }
 
-/// Get the version number (e.g. 3.9.0) of Clang in String form
-pub fn clang_version() -> String {
-    clang::extract_clang_version()
-        .expect("Could not retrieve Clang version!")
-        .split(' ')
-        .nth(2)
-        .expect("Could not parse Clang version!")
-        .to_string()
+/// Extracted Clang version data
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct ClangVersion {
+    /// major semvar
+    pub major: u32,
+    /// minor semvar
+    pub minor: u32,
+    /// full version string
+    pub full: String,
+}
+
+/// Get the major and the minor semvar numbers of Clang's version
+pub fn clang_version() -> Option<ClangVersion> {
+    let raw_v: String = match clang::extract_clang_version() {
+        None => return None,
+        Some(v) => v,
+    };
+    let split_v: Vec<&str> = match raw_v.split_whitespace().nth(2) {
+        None => return None,
+        Some(v) => v.split_terminator('.').collect(),
+    };
+    let maybe_major = split_v[0].parse::<u32>();
+    let maybe_minor = split_v[1].parse::<u32>();
+    match (maybe_major,maybe_minor) {
+        (Ok(major),Ok(minor)) => Some(ClangVersion { major: major, minor: minor, full: raw_v.clone() }),
+        _ => None,
+    }
 }