diff --git a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/update/UpdateClient.groovy b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/update/UpdateClient.groovy
index c89362bd..774af700 100644
--- a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/update/UpdateClient.groovy
+++ b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/update/UpdateClient.groovy
@@ -152,8 +152,31 @@ class UpdateClient {
                 }
 
                 if (VersionComparator.comp(myVersion, payload.version) >= 0) {
-                    log.info("no new version available")
-                    return
+                    
+                    String beta = System.getProperty("beta")
+                    
+                    if (beta == null) {
+                        log.info("no new version available")
+                        return
+                    }
+                    
+                    if (payload.beta == null) {
+                        log.warning("no beta field in update payload")
+                        return
+                    }
+                    
+                    payload = payload.beta
+                    
+                    if (payload.version == null) {
+                        log.warning("version missing in beta payload")
+                    }
+                    
+                    int myBeta = Integer.parseInt(beta)
+                    int updateBeta = Integer.parseInt(payload.version)
+                    if (myBeta >= updateBeta) {
+                        log.info("no new beta version available")
+                        return
+                    }
                 }
 
                 String infoHash
diff --git a/gui/griffon-app/lifecycle/Ready.groovy b/gui/griffon-app/lifecycle/Ready.groovy
index 9f0efba0..516d277d 100644
--- a/gui/griffon-app/lifecycle/Ready.groovy
+++ b/gui/griffon-app/lifecycle/Ready.groovy
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ class Ready extends AbstractLifecycleHandler {
     @Override
     void execute() {
         log.info "starting core services"
+        
+        String beta = metadata["application.beta"]
+        if (beta != null && beta != "0")
+            System.setProperty("beta", beta)
 
         def home = new File(application.getContext().getAsString("muwire-home"))
         def props = new Properties()
@@ -103,7 +107,7 @@ class Ready extends AbstractLifecycleHandler {
         
         Core core
         try {
-            core = new Core(props, home, metadata["application.version"])
+            core = new Core(props, home, metadata["application.coreVversion"])
             Runtime.getRuntime().addShutdownHook({
                 core.shutdown()
             })
diff --git a/gui/griffon-app/resources/application.properties b/gui/griffon-app/resources/application.properties
index c212f3f7..f69df289 100644
--- a/gui/griffon-app/resources/application.properties
+++ b/gui/griffon-app/resources/application.properties
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 application.name=MuWire
+
+# this version is for display purposes only
 application.version=0.8.12
+
+# set this to 0 if this is not a beta
 application.beta=2
+
+# this is the version the core gets initialized with
+application.coreVersion=0.8.11
+
+
 build.date=${build_date}
 build.time=${build_time}
 build.revision=${build_revision}