diff --git a/compiler/backend/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/codegen/writeAnnotationUtil.kt b/compiler/backend/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/codegen/writeAnnotationUtil.kt
index 0aae2d1e590..291fdae9571 100644
--- a/compiler/backend/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/codegen/writeAnnotationUtil.kt
+++ b/compiler/backend/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/codegen/writeAnnotationUtil.kt
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@ fun writeKotlinMetadata(
     av.visit(JvmAnnotationNames.BYTECODE_VERSION_FIELD_NAME, JvmBytecodeBinaryVersion.INSTANCE.toArray())
     av.visit(JvmAnnotationNames.KIND_FIELD_NAME, kind.id)
     var flags = extraFlags
-    if (KotlinCompilerVersion.isPreRelease() && state.languageVersionSettings.languageVersion == LanguageVersion.LATEST_STABLE) {
+    val languageVersion = state.languageVersionSettings.languageVersion
+    if (KotlinCompilerVersion.isPreRelease() && languageVersion == LanguageVersion.LATEST_STABLE ||
+        !languageVersion.isStable) {
         flags = flags or JvmAnnotationNames.METADATA_PRE_RELEASE_FLAG
     }
     if (flags != 0) {
diff --git a/compiler/frontend/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/resolve/CompilerDeserializationConfiguration.kt b/compiler/frontend/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/resolve/CompilerDeserializationConfiguration.kt
index 0acf782975b..654d1080e40 100644
--- a/compiler/frontend/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/resolve/CompilerDeserializationConfiguration.kt
+++ b/compiler/frontend/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/resolve/CompilerDeserializationConfiguration.kt
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import org.jetbrains.kotlin.serialization.deserialization.DeserializationConfigu
 class CompilerDeserializationConfiguration(languageVersionSettings: LanguageVersionSettings) : DeserializationConfiguration {
     override val skipMetadataVersionCheck = languageVersionSettings.getFlag(AnalysisFlag.skipMetadataVersionCheck)
 
-    override val skipPreReleaseCheck = skipMetadataVersionCheck
+    override val skipPreReleaseCheck = skipMetadataVersionCheck || !languageVersionSettings.languageVersion.isStable
 
     override val typeAliasesAllowed = languageVersionSettings.supportsFeature(LanguageFeature.TypeAliases)
 
diff --git a/core/util.runtime/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/config/KotlinCompilerVersion.java b/core/util.runtime/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/config/KotlinCompilerVersion.java
index a521acbc44f..b470d1059af 100644
--- a/core/util.runtime/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/config/KotlinCompilerVersion.java
+++ b/core/util.runtime/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/config/KotlinCompilerVersion.java
@@ -21,8 +21,9 @@ public class KotlinCompilerVersion {
     // DON'T MODIFY IT
     public static final String VERSION = "@snapshot@";
 
-    // True if this compiler is of a non-stable (EAP or Beta) version.
-    // Binaries produced by this compiler can not be loaded by release versions of the compiler.
+    // True if the latest stable language version supported by this compiler has not yet been released.
+    // Binaries produced by this compiler with that language version (or any future language version) are going to be marked
+    // as "pre-release" and will not be loaded by release versions of the compiler.
     // Change this value before and after every major release
     private static final boolean IS_PRE_RELEASE = false;
 
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ public class KotlinCompilerVersion {
     }
 
     static {
+        //noinspection ConstantConditions
         if (!VERSION.equals("@snapshot@") && !VERSION.contains("-") && IS_PRE_RELEASE) {
             throw new IllegalStateException(
                     "IS_PRE_RELEASE cannot be true for a compiler without '-' in its version.\n" +