diff --git a/tempest/cli/__init__.py b/tempest/cli/__init__.py
index 02f8c05..c33589a 100644
--- a/tempest/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/tempest/cli/__init__.py
@@ -13,14 +13,18 @@
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
 
+import functools
 import os
 import shlex
 import subprocess
 
+import testtools
+
 import tempest.cli.output_parser
 from tempest import config
 from tempest import exceptions
 from tempest.openstack.common import log as logging
+from tempest.openstack.common import versionutils
 import tempest.test
 
 
@@ -29,6 +33,65 @@
 CONF = config.CONF
 
 
+def execute(cmd, action, flags='', params='', fail_ok=False,
+            merge_stderr=False):
+    """Executes specified command for the given action."""
+    cmd = ' '.join([os.path.join(CONF.cli.cli_dir, cmd),
+                    flags, action, params])
+    LOG.info("running: '%s'" % cmd)
+    cmd = shlex.split(cmd.encode('utf-8'))
+    result = ''
+    result_err = ''
+    stdout = subprocess.PIPE
+    stderr = subprocess.STDOUT if merge_stderr else subprocess.PIPE
+    proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)
+    result, result_err = proc.communicate()
+    if not fail_ok and proc.returncode != 0:
+        raise exceptions.CommandFailed(proc.returncode,
+                                       cmd,
+                                       result,
+                                       result_err)
+    return result
+
+
+def check_client_version(client, version):
+    """Checks if the client's version is compatible with the given version
+
+    @param client: The client to check.
+    @param version: The version to compare against.
+    @return: True if the client version is compatible with the given version
+             parameter, False otherwise.
+    """
+    current_version = execute(client, '', params='--version',
+                              merge_stderr=True)
+
+    if not current_version.strip():
+        raise exceptions.TempestException('"%s --version" output was empty' %
+                                          client)
+
+    return versionutils.is_compatible(version, current_version,
+                                      same_major=False)
+
+
+def min_client_version(*args, **kwargs):
+    """A decorator to skip tests if the client used isn't of the right version.
+
+    @param client: The client command to run. For python-novaclient, this is
+                   'nova', for python-cinderclient this is 'cinder', etc.
+    @param version: The minimum version required to run the CLI test.
+    """
+    def decorator(func):
+        @functools.wraps(func)
+        def wrapper(*func_args, **func_kwargs):
+            if not check_client_version(kwargs['client'], kwargs['version']):
+                msg = "requires %s client version >= %s" % (kwargs['client'],
+                                                            kwargs['version'])
+                raise testtools.TestCase.skipException(msg)
+            return func(*func_args, **func_kwargs)
+        return wrapper
+    return decorator
+
+
 class ClientTestBase(tempest.test.BaseTestCase):
     @classmethod
     def setUpClass(cls):
@@ -50,7 +113,7 @@
     def nova_manage(self, action, flags='', params='', fail_ok=False,
                     merge_stderr=False):
         """Executes nova-manage command for the given action."""
-        return self.cmd(
+        return execute(
             'nova-manage', action, flags, params, fail_ok, merge_stderr)
 
     def keystone(self, action, flags='', params='', admin=True, fail_ok=False):
@@ -114,28 +177,7 @@
                   CONF.identity.admin_password,
                   CONF.identity.uri))
         flags = creds + ' ' + flags
-        return self.cmd(cmd, action, flags, params, fail_ok, merge_stderr)
-
-    def cmd(self, cmd, action, flags='', params='', fail_ok=False,
-            merge_stderr=False):
-        """Executes specified command for the given action."""
-        cmd = ' '.join([os.path.join(CONF.cli.cli_dir, cmd),
-                        flags, action, params])
-        LOG.info("running: '%s'" % cmd)
-        cmd = shlex.split(cmd.encode('utf-8'))
-        result = ''
-        result_err = ''
-        stdout = subprocess.PIPE
-        stderr = subprocess.STDOUT if merge_stderr else subprocess.PIPE
-        proc = subprocess.Popen(
-            cmd, stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)
-        result, result_err = proc.communicate()
-        if not fail_ok and proc.returncode != 0:
-            raise exceptions.CommandFailed(proc.returncode,
-                                           cmd,
-                                           result,
-                                           result_err)
-        return result
+        return execute(cmd, action, flags, params, fail_ok, merge_stderr)
 
     def assertTableStruct(self, items, field_names):
         """Verify that all items has keys listed in field_names."""
diff --git a/tempest/cli/simple_read_only/test_heat.py b/tempest/cli/simple_read_only/test_heat.py
index 7a952fc..bd79fa6 100644
--- a/tempest/cli/simple_read_only/test_heat.py
+++ b/tempest/cli/simple_read_only/test_heat.py
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@
     def test_heat_help(self):
         self.heat('help')
 
+    @tempest.cli.min_client_version(client='heat', version='0.2.7')
     def test_heat_bash_completion(self):
         self.heat('bash-completion')
 
diff --git a/tempest/cli/simple_read_only/test_nova.py b/tempest/cli/simple_read_only/test_nova.py
index 7085cc9..9bac7a6 100644
--- a/tempest/cli/simple_read_only/test_nova.py
+++ b/tempest/cli/simple_read_only/test_nova.py
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@
     def test_admin_secgroup_list_rules(self):
         self.nova('secgroup-list-rules')
 
+    @tempest.cli.min_client_version(client='nova', version='2.18')
     def test_admin_server_group_list(self):
         self.nova('server-group-list')
 
diff --git a/tempest/tests/cli/test_cli.py b/tempest/tests/cli/test_cli.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1fd5ccb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/tests/cli/test_cli.py
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# Copyright 2014 IBM Corp.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+import mock
+import testtools
+
+from tempest import cli
+from tempest import exceptions
+from tempest.tests import base
+
+
+class TestMinClientVersion(base.TestCase):
+    """Tests for the min_client_version decorator.
+    """
+
+    def _test_min_version(self, required, installed, expect_skip):
+
+        @cli.min_client_version(client='nova', version=required)
+        def fake(self, expect_skip):
+            if expect_skip:
+                # If we got here, the decorator didn't raise a skipException as
+                # expected so we need to fail.
+                self.fail('Should not have gotten past the decorator.')
+
+        with mock.patch.object(cli, 'execute',
+                               return_value=installed) as mock_cmd:
+            if expect_skip:
+                self.assertRaises(testtools.TestCase.skipException, fake,
+                                  self, expect_skip)
+            else:
+                fake(self, expect_skip)
+            mock_cmd.assert_called_once_with('nova', '', params='--version',
+                                             merge_stderr=True)
+
+    def test_min_client_version(self):
+        # required, installed, expect_skip
+        cases = (('2.17.0', '2.17.0', False),
+                 ('2.17.0', '2.18.0', False),
+                 ('2.18.0', '2.17.0', True))
+
+        for case in cases:
+            self._test_min_version(*case)
+
+    @mock.patch.object(cli, 'execute', return_value=' ')
+    def test_check_client_version_empty_output(self, mock_execute):
+        # Tests that an exception is raised if the command output is empty.
+        self.assertRaises(exceptions.TempestException,
+                          cli.check_client_version, 'nova', '2.18.0')