diff --git a/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Problem.php b/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Problem.php
index de24b0991..073f64e2d 100644
--- a/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Problem.php
+++ b/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Problem.php
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ class Problem
 
                     $msg = "\n    - This package requires ".$job['packageName'].$this->constraintToText($job['constraint']).' but ';
 
-                    if (defined('HHVM_VERSION')) {
+                    if (defined('HHVM_VERSION') || count($available)) {
                         return $msg . 'your HHVM version does not satisfy that requirement.';
                     }
 
diff --git a/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Rule.php b/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Rule.php
index 4760b8964..82c9c499c 100644
--- a/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Rule.php
+++ b/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Rule.php
@@ -175,12 +175,17 @@ abstract class Rule
                             return $text . ' -> your HHVM version does not satisfy that requirement.';
                         }
 
+                        $packages = $pool->whatProvides($targetName);
+                        $package = count($packages) ? current($packages) : phpversion();
+
                         if ($targetName === 'hhvm') {
-                            return $text . ' -> you are running this with PHP and not HHVM.';
+                            if ($package instanceof CompletePackage) {
+                                return $text . ' -> your HHVM version ('.$package->getPrettyVersion().') does not satisfy that requirement.';
+                            } else {
+                                return $text . ' -> you are running this with PHP and not HHVM.';
+                            }
                         }
 
-                        $packages = $pool->whatProvides($targetName);
-                        $package = count($packages) ? current($packages) : phpversion();
 
                         if (!($package instanceof CompletePackage)) {
                             return $text . ' -> your PHP version ('.phpversion().') does not satisfy that requirement.';
diff --git a/src/Composer/Repository/PlatformRepository.php b/src/Composer/Repository/PlatformRepository.php
index 221f2eb97..56dc6ced5 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Repository/PlatformRepository.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Repository/PlatformRepository.php
@@ -16,8 +16,11 @@ use Composer\Package\CompletePackage;
 use Composer\Package\PackageInterface;
 use Composer\Package\Version\VersionParser;
 use Composer\Plugin\PluginInterface;
+use Composer\Util\ProcessExecutor;
 use Composer\Util\Silencer;
+use Composer\Util\Platform;
 use Composer\XdebugHandler\XdebugHandler;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\ExecutableFinder;
 
 /**
  * @author Jordi Boggiano <j.boggiano@seld.be>
@@ -37,8 +40,11 @@ class PlatformRepository extends ArrayRepository
      */
     private $overrides = array();
 
-    public function __construct(array $packages = array(), array $overrides = array())
+    private $process;
+
+    public function __construct(array $packages = array(), array $overrides = array(), ProcessExecutor $process = null)
     {
+        $this->process = $process === null ? (new ProcessExecutor()) : $process;
         foreach ($overrides as $name => $version) {
             $this->overrides[strtolower($name)] = array('name' => $name, 'version' => $version);
         }
@@ -220,12 +226,27 @@ class PlatformRepository extends ArrayRepository
             $this->addPackage($lib);
         }
 
-        if (defined('HHVM_VERSION')) {
+        $hhvmVersion = defined('HHVM_VERSION') ? HHVM_VERSION : null;
+        if ($hhvmVersion === null && !Platform::isWindows()) {
+            $finder = new ExecutableFinder();
+            $hhvm = $finder->find('hhvm');
+            if ($hhvm !== null) {
+                $exitCode = $this->process->execute(
+                    ProcessExecutor::escape($hhvm).
+                    ' --php -d hhvm.jit=0 -r "echo HHVM_VERSION;" 2>/dev/null',
+                    $hhvmVersion
+                );
+                if ($exitCode !== 0) {
+                    $hhvmVersion = null;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        if ($hhvmVersion) {
             try {
-                $prettyVersion = HHVM_VERSION;
+                $prettyVersion = $hhvmVersion;
                 $version = $this->versionParser->normalize($prettyVersion);
             } catch (\UnexpectedValueException $e) {
-                $prettyVersion = preg_replace('#^([^~+-]+).*$#', '$1', HHVM_VERSION);
+                $prettyVersion = preg_replace('#^([^~+-]+).*$#', '$1', $hhvmVersion);
                 $version = $this->versionParser->normalize($prettyVersion);
             }
 
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Repository/PlatformRepositoryTest.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Repository/PlatformRepositoryTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aa51a2fc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Repository/PlatformRepositoryTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Composer.
+ *
+ * (c) Nils Adermann <naderman@naderman.de>
+ *         Jordi Boggiano <j.boggiano@seld.be>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Composer\Test\Repository;
+
+use Composer\Repository\PlatformRepository;
+use Composer\Test\TestCase;
+use Composer\Util\Platform;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\ExecutableFinder;
+
+class PlatformRepositoryTest extends TestCase {
+    public function testHHVMVersionWhenExecutingInHHVM() {
+        if (!defined('HHVM_VERSION_ID')) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('Not running with HHVM');
+            return;
+        }
+        $repository = new PlatformRepository();
+        $package = $repository->findPackage('hhvm', '*');
+        $this->assertNotNull($package, 'failed to find HHVM package');
+        $this->assertSame(
+            sprintf('%d.%d.%d',
+                HHVM_VERSION_ID / 10000,
+                (HHVM_VERSION_ID / 100) % 100,
+                HHVM_VERSION_ID % 100
+            ),
+            $package->getPrettyVersion()
+        );
+    }
+
+    public function testHHVMVersionWhenExecutingInPHP() {
+        if (defined('HHVM_VERSION_ID')) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('Running with HHVM');
+            return;
+        }
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID < 50400) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('Test only works on PHP 5.4+');
+            return;
+        }
+        if (Platform::isWindows()) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('Test does not run on Windows');
+            return;
+        }
+        $finder = new ExecutableFinder();
+        $hhvm = $finder->find('hhvm');
+        if ($hhvm === null) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('HHVM is not installed');
+        }
+        $process = $this->getMockBuilder('Composer\Util\ProcessExecutor')->getMock();
+        $process->expects($this->once())->method('execute')->will($this->returnCallback(
+            function($command, &$out) {
+                $this->assertContains('HHVM_VERSION', $command);
+                $out = '4.0.1-dev';
+                return 0;
+            }
+        ));
+        $repository = new PlatformRepository(array(), array(), $process);
+        $package = $repository->findPackage('hhvm', '*');
+        $this->assertNotNull($package, 'failed to find HHVM package');
+        $this->assertSame('4.0.1.0-dev', $package->getVersion());
+    }
+}