Index: features/core/src/main/java/org/apache/karaf/features/internal/FeatureImpl.java
===================================================================
--- features/core/src/main/java/org/apache/karaf/features/internal/FeatureImpl.java	(revision 8be067638747dfb27eb4d8e746c664aa12f4c5b3)
+++ features/core/src/main/java/org/apache/karaf/features/internal/FeatureImpl.java	(revision )
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
     private List<ConfigFileInfo> configurationFiles = new ArrayList<ConfigFileInfo>();
     public static String SPLIT_FOR_NAME_AND_VERSION = "_split_for_name_and_version_";
     public static String DEFAULT_VERSION = "0.0.0";
+    public static String VERSION_PREFIX = "version=";
 
     public FeatureImpl() {
     }
Index: features/core/src/main/java/org/apache/karaf/features/internal/FeaturesServiceImpl.java
===================================================================
--- features/core/src/main/java/org/apache/karaf/features/internal/FeaturesServiceImpl.java	(revision 8be067638747dfb27eb4d8e746c664aa12f4c5b3)
+++ features/core/src/main/java/org/apache/karaf/features/internal/FeaturesServiceImpl.java	(revision )
@@ -16,41 +16,12 @@
  */
 package org.apache.karaf.features.internal;
 
-import java.io.*;
-import java.net.MalformedURLException;
-import java.net.URI;
-import java.net.URISyntaxException;
-import java.net.URL;
-import java.net.URLConnection;
-import java.util.*;
-import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
-import java.util.jar.JarInputStream;
-import java.util.jar.Manifest;
-import java.util.regex.Matcher;
-import java.util.regex.Pattern;
-
 import org.apache.felix.utils.manifest.Clause;
 import org.apache.felix.utils.manifest.Parser;
 import org.apache.felix.utils.version.VersionRange;
 import org.apache.felix.utils.version.VersionTable;
-import org.apache.karaf.features.BundleInfo;
-import org.apache.karaf.features.ConfigFileInfo;
-import org.apache.karaf.features.Feature;
-import org.apache.karaf.features.FeatureEvent;
-import org.apache.karaf.features.FeaturesListener;
-import org.apache.karaf.features.FeaturesService;
-import org.apache.karaf.features.Repository;
-import org.apache.karaf.features.RepositoryEvent;
-import org.apache.karaf.features.Resolver;
-import org.osgi.framework.Bundle;
-import org.osgi.framework.BundleContext;
-import org.osgi.framework.BundleException;
-import org.osgi.framework.Constants;
-import org.osgi.framework.FrameworkEvent;
-import org.osgi.framework.FrameworkListener;
-import org.osgi.framework.FrameworkUtil;
-import org.osgi.framework.InvalidSyntaxException;
-import org.osgi.framework.Version;
+import org.apache.karaf.features.*;
+import org.osgi.framework.*;
 import org.osgi.service.cm.Configuration;
 import org.osgi.service.cm.ConfigurationAdmin;
 import org.osgi.service.packageadmin.PackageAdmin;
@@ -59,16 +30,18 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
-import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory;
-import javax.xml.XMLConstants;
-import javax.xml.transform.dom.DOMSource;
-import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamSource;
-import javax.xml.validation.SchemaFactory;
-import javax.xml.validation.Schema;
-import javax.xml.validation.Validator;
+import java.io.*;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.util.*;
+import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
+import java.util.jar.JarInputStream;
+import java.util.jar.Manifest;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
-import org.w3c.dom.Document;
-
 import static java.lang.String.format;
 
 /**
@@ -892,12 +865,32 @@
         if (boot != null && !bootFeaturesInstalled) {
             new Thread() {
                 public void run() {
+                    // splitting the features
                     String[] list = boot.split(",");
                     Set<Feature> features = new LinkedHashSet<Feature>();
                     for (String f : list) {
                         if (f.length() > 0) {
+                            String featureVersion = null;
+
+                            // first we split the parts of the feature string to gain access to the version info
+                            // if specified
+                            String[] parts = f.split(";");
+                            String featureName = parts[0];
+                            for (String part : parts) {
+                                // if the part starts with "version=" it contains the version info
+                                if (part.startsWith(FeatureImpl.VERSION_PREFIX)) {
+                                    featureVersion = part.substring(FeatureImpl.VERSION_PREFIX.length());
+                                }
+                            }
+
+                            if (featureVersion == null) {
+                                // no version specified - use default version
+                                featureVersion = FeatureImpl.DEFAULT_VERSION;
+                            }
+                            
                             try {
-                                Feature feature = getFeature(f, FeatureImpl.DEFAULT_VERSION);
+                                // try to grab specific feature version
+                                Feature feature = getFeature(featureName, featureVersion);
                                 if (feature != null) {
                                     features.add(feature);
                                 } else {