5 files changed, 47 insertions, 11 deletions
diff --git a/railties/CHANGELOG.md b/railties/CHANGELOG.md
index 9dce38fc93..5096f5324a 100644
--- a/railties/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/railties/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,18 @@
+*   Introduce `Rails.gem_version` as a convenience method to return
+    `Gem::Version.new(Rails.version)`, suggesting a more reliable way to perform
+    version comparison.
+
+    Example:
+
+        Rails.version #=> "4.1.2"
+        Rails.gem_version #=> #<Gem::Version "4.1.2">
+
+        Rails.version > "4.1.10" #=> false
+        Rails.gem_version > Gem::Version.new("4.1.10") #=> true
+        Gem::Requirement.new("~> 4.1.2") =~ Rails.gem_version #=> true
+
+    *Prem Sichanugrist*
+
 *   Avoid namespacing routes inside engines.
 
     Mountable engines are namespaced by default so the generated routes
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails.rb b/railties/lib/rails.rb
index be7570a5ba..ecd8c22dd8 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails.rb
@@ -80,10 +80,6 @@ module Rails
       groups
     end
 
-    def version
-      VERSION::STRING
-    end
-
     def public_path
       application && Pathname.new(application.paths["public"].first)
     end
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/gem_version.rb b/railties/lib/rails/gem_version.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c7397c4f15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/gem_version.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+module Rails
+  # Returns the version of the currently loaded Rails as a <tt>Gem::Version</tt>
+  def self.gem_version
+    Gem::Version.new VERSION::STRING
+  end
+
+  module VERSION
+    MAJOR = 4
+    MINOR = 2
+    TINY  = 0
+    PRE   = "alpha"
+
+    STRING = [MAJOR, MINOR, TINY, PRE].compact.join(".")
+  end
+end
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/version.rb b/railties/lib/rails/version.rb
index 79313c936a..df351c4238 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/version.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/version.rb
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
-module Rails
-  module VERSION
-    MAJOR = 4
-    MINOR = 2
-    TINY  = 0
-    PRE   = "alpha"
+require_relative 'gem_version'
 
-    STRING = [MAJOR, MINOR, TINY, PRE].compact.join(".")
+module Rails
+  # Returns the version of the currently loaded Rails as a string.
+  def self.version
+    VERSION::STRING
   end
 end
diff --git a/railties/test/version_test.rb b/railties/test/version_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f270d8f0c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/railties/test/version_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+require 'abstract_unit'
+
+class VersionTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
+  def test_rails_version_returns_a_string
+    assert Rails.version.is_a? String
+  end
+
+  def test_rails_gem_version_returns_a_correct_gem_version_object
+    assert Rails.gem_version.is_a? Gem::Version
+    assert_equal Rails.version, Rails.gem_version.to_s
+  end
+end