diff --git a/project/AkkaBuild.scala b/project/AkkaBuild.scala
index 07fcd8f09b..dd982997b6 100644
--- a/project/AkkaBuild.scala
+++ b/project/AkkaBuild.scala
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ object AkkaBuild extends Build {
   lazy val buildSettings = Seq(
     organization := "com.typesafe.akka",
     version      := "2.1-SNAPSHOT",
-    scalaVersion := "2.10.0-M7"
+    scalaVersion := System.getProperty("akka.scalaVersion", "2.10.0-M7")
   )
 
   lazy val akka = Project(