diff --git a/lib/environmentlib.php b/lib/environmentlib.php
index 28f2dc9543d..802ebef0dc8 100644
--- a/lib/environmentlib.php
+++ b/lib/environmentlib.php
@@ -327,6 +327,10 @@ function get_list_of_environment_versions($contents) {
         }
     }
 
+    if (isset($contents['COMPATIBILITY_MATRIX']['#']['PLUGIN'])) {
+        $versions[] = 'all';
+    }
+
     return $versions;
 }
 
@@ -396,6 +400,14 @@ function get_environment_for_version($version, $env_select) {
         return false;
     }
 
+    // If $env_select is not numeric then this is being called on a plugin, and not the core environment.xml
+    // If a version of 'all' is in the arry is also means that the new <PLUGIN> tag was found, this should
+    // be matched against any version of Moodle.
+    if (!is_numeric($env_select) && in_array('all', $versions)
+            && environment_verify_plugin($env_select, $contents['COMPATIBILITY_MATRIX']['#']['PLUGIN'][0])) {
+        return $contents['COMPATIBILITY_MATRIX']['#']['PLUGIN'][0];
+    }
+
 /// If the version requested is available
     if (!in_array($version, $versions)) {
         return false;
@@ -407,6 +419,19 @@ function get_environment_for_version($version, $env_select) {
     return $contents['COMPATIBILITY_MATRIX']['#']['MOODLE'][$fl_arr[$version]];
 }
 
+/**
+ * Checks if a plugin tag has a name attribute and it matches the plugin being tested.
+ *
+ * @param string $plugin the name of the plugin.
+ * @param array $pluginxml the xmlised structure for the plugin tag being tested.
+ * @return boolean true if the name attribute exists and matches the plugin being tested.
+ */
+function environment_verify_plugin($plugin, $pluginxml) {
+    if (!isset($pluginxml['@']['name']) || $pluginxml['@']['name'] != $plugin) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    return true;
+}
 
 /**
  * This function will check for everything (DB, PHP and PHP extensions for now)
diff --git a/lib/tests/environment_test.php b/lib/tests/environment_test.php
index 64c508cae5c..2554b0d243a 100644
--- a/lib/tests/environment_test.php
+++ b/lib/tests/environment_test.php
@@ -53,4 +53,79 @@ class core_environment_testcase extends advanced_testcase {
             $this->assertTrue($environment_result->getStatus(), "Problem detected in environment ($environment_result->part:$environment_result->info), fix all warnings and errors!");
         }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Test the get_list_of_environment_versions() function.
+     */
+    public function test_get_list_of_environment_versions() {
+        global $CFG;
+        require_once($CFG->libdir.'/environmentlib.php');
+        // Build a sample xmlised environment.xml.
+        $xml = <<<END
+<COMPATIBILITY_MATRIX>
+    <MOODLE version="1.9">
+        <PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+            <PHP_EXTENSION name="xsl" level="required" />
+        </PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+    </MOODLE>
+    <MOODLE version="2.5">
+        <PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+            <PHP_EXTENSION name="xsl" level="required" />
+        </PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+    </MOODLE>
+    <MOODLE version="2.6">
+        <PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+            <PHP_EXTENSION name="xsl" level="required" />
+        </PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+    </MOODLE>
+    <MOODLE version="2.7">
+        <PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+            <PHP_EXTENSION name="xsl" level="required" />
+        </PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+    </MOODLE>
+    <PLUGIN name="block_test">
+        <PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+            <PHP_EXTENSION name="xsl" level="required" />
+        </PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+    </PLUGIN>
+</COMPATIBILITY_MATRIX>
+END;
+        $environemt = xmlize($xml);
+        $versions = get_list_of_environment_versions($environemt);
+        $this->assertCount(5, $versions);
+        $this->assertContains('1.9', $versions);
+        $this->assertContains('2.5', $versions);
+        $this->assertContains('2.6', $versions);
+        $this->assertContains('2.7', $versions);
+        $this->assertContains('all', $versions);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test the environment_verify_plugin() function.
+     */
+    public function test_verify_plugin() {
+        global $CFG;
+        require_once($CFG->libdir.'/environmentlib.php');
+        // Build sample xmlised environment file fragments.
+        $plugin1xml = <<<END
+<PLUGIN name="block_testcase">
+    <PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+        <PHP_EXTENSION name="xsl" level="required" />
+    </PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+</PLUGIN>
+END;
+        $plugin1 = xmlize($plugin1xml);
+        $plugin2xml = <<<END
+<PLUGIN>
+    <PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+        <PHP_EXTENSION name="xsl" level="required" />
+    </PHP_EXTENSIONS>
+</PLUGIN>
+END;
+        $plugin2 = xmlize($plugin2xml);
+        $this->assertTrue(environment_verify_plugin('block_testcase', $plugin1['PLUGIN']));
+        $this->assertFalse(environment_verify_plugin('block_testcase', $plugin2['PLUGIN']));
+        $this->assertFalse(environment_verify_plugin('mod_someother', $plugin1['PLUGIN']));
+        $this->assertFalse(environment_verify_plugin('mod_someother', $plugin2['PLUGIN']));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/lib/upgrade.txt b/lib/upgrade.txt
index 95ab70c0f50..6971492668f 100644
--- a/lib/upgrade.txt
+++ b/lib/upgrade.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ information provided here is intended especially for developers.
 * The file pluginlib.php was deprecated since 2.6 and has now been removed, do not include or require it.
 * \core_component::fetch_subsystems() now returns a valid path for completion component instead of null.
 * Deprecated JS global methods have been removed (show_item, destroy_item, hide_item, addonload, getElementsByTagName, findChildNodes).
+* For 3rd party plugin specific environment.xml files, it's now possible to specify version independent checks by using the
+  <PLUGIN name="component_name"> tag instead of the version dependent <MOODLE version="x.y"> one. If the PLUGIN tag is used any
+  Moodle specific tags will be ignored.
 
 === 2.8 ===