diff --git a/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d b/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d
index 3ba28e1..87a4f1a 100644
--- a/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d
+++ b/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d
@@ -73,7 +73,8 @@
 		addCopyFiles(bs.copyFiles);
 		addVersions(bs.versions);
 		addDebugVersions(bs.debugVersions);
-		mergeVersionFilters(bs);
+		addVersionFilters(bs.versionFilters);
+		addDebugVersionFilters(bs.debugVersionFilters);
 		addImportPaths(bs.importPaths);
 		addStringImportPaths(bs.stringImportPaths);
 		addImportFiles(bs.importFiles);
@@ -86,20 +87,6 @@
 		addPostRunCommands(bs.postRunCommands);
 	}
 
-	void mergeVersionFilters(in ref BuildSettings bs)
-	{
-		// only filter version identifiers if they are explicitly listed in both
-		// build settings, so to avoid incorrect filtering
-		if (versionFilters.length && bs.versionFilters.length)
-			addVersionFilters(bs.versionFilters);
-		else
-			versionFilters = null;
-		if (debugVersionFilters.length && bs.debugVersionFilters.length)
-			addDebugVersionFilters(bs.debugVersionFilters);
-		else
-			debugVersionFilters = null;
-	}
-
 	void addDFlags(in string[] value...) { dflags ~= value; }
 	void prependDFlags(in string[] value...) { prepend(dflags, value); }
 	void removeDFlags(in string[] value...) { remove(dflags, value); }
diff --git a/source/dub/dub.d b/source/dub/dub.d
index 5f93227..634a3d4 100644
--- a/source/dub/dub.d
+++ b/source/dub/dub.d
@@ -780,6 +780,7 @@
 
 		if (existsFile(path ~ ".dub/build")) rmdirRecurse((path ~ ".dub/build").toNativeString());
 		if (existsFile(path ~ ".dub/obj")) rmdirRecurse((path ~ ".dub/obj").toNativeString());
+		if (existsFile(path ~ ".dub/metadata_cache.json")) std.file.remove((path ~ ".dub/metadata_cache.json").toNativeString());
 
 		auto p = Package.load(path);
 		if (p.getBuildSettings().targetType == TargetType.none) {
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/generator.d b/source/dub/generators/generator.d
index 1d218c8..f158b75 100644
--- a/source/dub/generators/generator.d
+++ b/source/dub/generators/generator.d
@@ -238,6 +238,9 @@
 			if (bs.targetType == TargetType.executable) bs.addSourceFiles(mainSourceFiles);
 		}
 
+		foreach (ref ti; targets.byValue)
+			inferVersionFilters(ti);
+
 		// mark packages as visited (only used during upwards propagation)
 		void[0][Package] visited;
 
@@ -365,18 +368,14 @@
 			import std.algorithm.sorting : partition;
 
 			auto bs = &ti.buildSettings;
-			if (bs.versionFilters.length)
-			{
-				auto filtered = bs.versions.partition!(v => bs.versionFilters.canFind(v));
-				logDebug("Filtering out unused versions for %s: %s", name, filtered);
-				bs.versions = bs.versions[0 .. $ - filtered.length];
-			}
-			if (bs.debugVersionFilters.length)
-			{
-				auto filtered = bs.debugVersions.partition!(v => bs.debugVersionFilters.canFind(v));
-				logDebug("Filtering out unused debug versions for %s: %s", name, filtered);
-				bs.debugVersions = bs.debugVersions[0 .. $ - filtered.length];
-			}
+
+			auto filtered = bs.versions.partition!(v => bs.versionFilters.canFind(v));
+			logDebug("Filtering out unused versions for %s: %s", name, filtered);
+			bs.versions = bs.versions[0 .. $ - filtered.length];
+
+			filtered = bs.debugVersions.partition!(v => bs.debugVersionFilters.canFind(v));
+			logDebug("Filtering out unused debug versions for %s: %s", name, filtered);
+			bs.debugVersions = bs.debugVersions[0 .. $ - filtered.length];
 		}
 
 		// 5. override string import files in dependencies
@@ -417,8 +416,92 @@
 			if (!hasOutput[name])
 				targets.remove(name);
 		}
+	}
 
-		return mainSourceFiles;
+	// infer applicable version identifiers
+	private static void inferVersionFilters(ref TargetInfo ti)
+	{
+		import std.algorithm.searching : any;
+		import std.file : timeLastModified;
+		import std.range : chain;
+		import std.regex : ctRegex, matchAll;
+		import std.stdio : File;
+		import std.datetime : Clock, SysTime, UTC;
+		import dub.internal.vibecompat.data.json : Json, JSONException;
+
+		auto bs = &ti.buildSettings;
+
+		// only infer if neither version filters are specified explicitly
+		if (bs.versionFilters.length || bs.debugVersionFilters.length)
+		{
+			logDebug("Using specified versionFilters for %s: %s %s", ti.pack.name,
+				bs.versionFilters, bs.debugVersionFilters);
+			return;
+		}
+
+		// check all sources for version identifiers
+		auto srcs = chain(bs.sourceFiles, bs.importFiles, bs.stringImportFiles);
+		// try to load cached filters first
+		auto cache = ti.pack.metadataCache;
+		try
+		{
+			auto cachedFilters = cache["versionFilters"];
+			if (cachedFilters.type != Json.Type.undefined)
+				cachedFilters = cachedFilters[ti.config];
+			if (cachedFilters.type != Json.Type.undefined)
+			{
+				immutable mtime = SysTime.fromISOExtString(cachedFilters["mtime"].get!string);
+				if (!srcs.any!(src => src.timeLastModified > mtime))
+				{
+					auto versionFilters = cachedFilters["versions"][].map!(j => j.get!string).array;
+					auto debugVersionFilters = cachedFilters["debugVersions"][].map!(j => j.get!string).array;
+					logDebug("Using cached versionFilters for %s: %s %s", ti.pack.name,
+						versionFilters, debugVersionFilters);
+					bs.addVersionFilters(versionFilters);
+					bs.addDebugVersionFilters(debugVersionFilters);
+					return;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		catch (JSONException e)
+		{
+			logWarn("Exception during loading invalid package cache %s.\n%s",
+				ti.pack.path ~ ".dub/metadata_cache.json", e);
+		}
+
+		// use ctRegex for performance reasons, only small compile time increase
+		enum verRE = ctRegex!`(?:^|\s)version\s*\(\s*([^\s]*?)\s*\)`;
+		enum debVerRE = ctRegex!`(?:^|\s)debug\s*\(\s*([^\s]*?)\s*\)`;
+
+		auto versionFilters = appender!(string[]);
+		auto debugVersionFilters = appender!(string[]);
+
+		foreach (file; srcs)
+		{
+			foreach (line; File(file).byLine)
+			{
+				foreach (m; line.matchAll(verRE))
+					if (!versionFilters.data.canFind(m[1]))
+						versionFilters.put(m[1].idup);
+				foreach (m; line.matchAll(debVerRE))
+					if (!debugVersionFilters.data.canFind(m[1]))
+						debugVersionFilters.put(m[1].idup);
+			}
+		}
+		logDebug("Using inferred versionFilters for %s: %s %s", ti.pack.name,
+			versionFilters.data, debugVersionFilters.data);
+		bs.addVersionFilters(versionFilters.data);
+		bs.addDebugVersionFilters(debugVersionFilters.data);
+
+		auto cachedFilters = cache["versionFilters"];
+		if (cachedFilters.type == Json.Type.undefined)
+			cachedFilters = cache["versionFilters"] = [ti.config: Json.emptyObject];
+		cachedFilters[ti.config] = [
+			"mtime": Json(Clock.currTime(UTC()).toISOExtString),
+			"versions": Json(versionFilters.data.map!Json.array),
+			"debugVersions": Json(debugVersionFilters.data.map!Json.array),
+		];
+		ti.pack.metadataCache = cache;
 	}
 
 	private static void mergeFromDependent(in ref BuildSettings parent, ref BuildSettings child)
@@ -435,7 +518,8 @@
 		parent.addDFlags(child.dflags);
 		parent.addVersions(child.versions);
 		parent.addDebugVersions(child.debugVersions);
-		parent.mergeVersionFilters(child);
+		parent.addVersionFilters(child.versionFilters);
+		parent.addDebugVersionFilters(child.debugVersionFilters);
 		parent.addImportPaths(child.importPaths);
 		parent.addStringImportPaths(child.stringImportPaths);
 		// linking of static libraries is done by parent
@@ -474,6 +558,7 @@
 	int targetExitStatus;
 
 	bool combined; // compile all in one go instead of each dependency separately
+	bool filterVersions;
 
 	// only used for generator "build"
 	bool run, force, direct, rdmd, tempBuild, parallelBuild;
diff --git a/source/dub/package_.d b/source/dub/package_.d
index bac7020..5da9201 100644
--- a/source/dub/package_.d
+++ b/source/dub/package_.d
@@ -274,6 +274,22 @@
 		dstFile.writePrettyJsonString(m_info.toJson());
 	}
 
+	/// Get the metadata cache for this package
+	@property Json metadataCache()
+	{
+		enum silent_fail = true;
+		return jsonFromFile(m_path ~ ".dub/metadata_cache.json", silent_fail);
+	}
+
+	/// Write metadata cache for this package
+	@property void metadataCache(Json json)
+	{
+		enum create_if_missing = true;
+		if (isWritableDir(m_path ~ ".dub", create_if_missing))
+			writeJsonFile(m_path ~ ".dub/metadata_cache.json", json);
+		// TODO: store elsewhere
+	}
+
 	/** Returns the package recipe of a non-path-based sub package.
 
 		For sub packages that are declared within the package recipe of the