diff --git a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/KotlinGradlePluginIT.kt b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/KotlinGradlePluginIT.kt
index 3d87b134d1f..7c35c6e2fc2 100644
--- a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/KotlinGradlePluginIT.kt
+++ b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/KotlinGradlePluginIT.kt
@@ -862,6 +862,20 @@ class KotlinGradleIT : BaseGradleIT() {
         }
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun testDefaultKotlinVersionIsNotAffectedByTransitiveDependencies() =
+        with(Project("simpleProject", GradleVersionRequired.AtLeast("4.4"))) {
+            setupWorkingDir()
+            // Add a dependency with an explicit lower Kotlin version that has a kotlin-stdlib transitive dependency:
+            gradleBuildScript().appendText("\ndependencies { compile 'org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-reflect:1.2.71' }")
+            testResolveAllConfigurations {
+                assertSuccessful()
+                assertContains(">> :compile --> kotlin-reflect-1.2.71.jar")
+                // Check that the default newer Kotlin version still wins for 'kotlin-stdlib':
+                assertContains(">> :compile --> kotlin-stdlib-${defaultBuildOptions().kotlinVersion}.jar")
+            }
+        }
+
     @Test
     fun testNoTaskConfigurationForcing() {
         val gradleVersionRequirement = GradleVersionRequired.AtLeast("4.9")
diff --git a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/VariantAwareDependenciesIT.kt b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/VariantAwareDependenciesIT.kt
index dde4fef46d9..64076a2c43f 100644
--- a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/VariantAwareDependenciesIT.kt
+++ b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/VariantAwareDependenciesIT.kt
@@ -73,7 +73,10 @@ class VariantAwareDependenciesIT : BaseGradleIT() {
         val outerProject = Project("sample-lib", gradleVersion, "new-mpp-lib-and-app")
         val innerProject = Project("simpleProject").apply {
             setupWorkingDir()
-            gradleBuildScript().modify { it.replace("apply plugin: \"kotlin\"", "") }
+            gradleBuildScript().modify {
+                it.replace("apply plugin: \"kotlin\"", "")
+                    .replace("\"org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib\"", "\"org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib:\$kotlin_version\"")
+            }
         }
 
         with(outerProject) {
diff --git a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/resources/testProject/simpleProject/build.gradle b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/resources/testProject/simpleProject/build.gradle
index ae40bfbe6ae..792377e6c29 100644
--- a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/resources/testProject/simpleProject/build.gradle
+++ b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/resources/testProject/simpleProject/build.gradle
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ dependencies {
     compile 'com.google.guava:guava:12.0'
     deployCompile 'com.google.guava:guava:12.0'
     testCompile 'org.testng:testng:6.8'
-    compile "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib:$kotlin_version"
+    compile "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib"
 }
 
 test {
diff --git a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/KotlinPlugin.kt b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/KotlinPlugin.kt
index cabe474ffb2..7ecfc58f003 100755
--- a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/KotlinPlugin.kt
+++ b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/KotlinPlugin.kt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import com.android.builder.model.SourceProvider
 import groovy.lang.Closure
 import org.gradle.api.*
 import org.gradle.api.artifacts.ExternalDependency
+import org.gradle.api.artifacts.MutableVersionConstraint
 import org.gradle.api.attributes.Usage
 import org.gradle.api.file.FileCollection
 import org.gradle.api.file.SourceDirectorySet
@@ -502,11 +503,21 @@ internal abstract class AbstractKotlinPlugin(
 internal fun configureDefaultVersionsResolutionStrategy(project: Project, kotlinPluginVersion: String) {
     project.configurations.all { configuration ->
         if (isGradleVersionAtLeast(4, 4)) {
+            fun MutableVersionConstraint.chooseVersion(version: String) {
+                if (isGradleVersionAtLeast(5, 0)) {
+                    // In Gradle 5.0, the semantics of 'prefer' has changed to be much less imperative, and now it's 'require' that we need:
+                    val requireMethod = javaClass.getMethod("require", String::class.java)
+                    requireMethod(this, version)
+                } else {
+                    prefer(version)
+                }
+            }
+
             // Use the API introduced in Gradle 4.4 to modify the dependencies directly before they are resolved:
             configuration.withDependencies { dependencySet ->
                 dependencySet.filterIsInstance<ExternalDependency>()
                     .filter { it.group == "org.jetbrains.kotlin" && it.version.isNullOrEmpty() }
-                    .forEach { it.version { constraint -> constraint.prefer(kotlinPluginVersion) } }
+                    .forEach { it.version { constraint -> constraint.chooseVersion(kotlinPluginVersion) } }
             }
         } else {
             configuration.resolutionStrategy.eachDependency { details ->