diff --git a/res/composer-schema.json b/res/composer-schema.json
index f1f7ed1f9..35377faff 100644
--- a/res/composer-schema.json
+++ b/res/composer-schema.json
@@ -143,6 +143,10 @@
             "description": "A set of additional repositories where packages can be found.",
             "additionalProperties": true
         },
+        "minimum-stability": {
+            "type": ["string"],
+            "description": "The minimum stability the packages must have to be install-able. Possible values are: dev, alpha, beta, RC, stable."
+        },
         "bin": {
             "type": ["array"],
             "description": "A set of files that should be treated as binaries and symlinked into bin-dir (from config).",
diff --git a/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Pool.php b/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Pool.php
index 24ef5427a..df24a8b26 100644
--- a/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Pool.php
+++ b/src/Composer/DependencyResolver/Pool.php
@@ -14,17 +14,35 @@ namespace Composer\DependencyResolver;
 
 use Composer\Package\LinkConstraint\LinkConstraintInterface;
 use Composer\Repository\RepositoryInterface;
+use Composer\Repository\CompositeRepository;
+use Composer\Repository\InstalledRepositoryInterface;
+use Composer\Repository\PlatformRepository;
 
 /**
  * A package pool contains repositories that provide packages.
  *
  * @author Nils Adermann <naderman@naderman.de>
+ * @author Jordi Boggiano <j.boggiano@seld.be>
  */
 class Pool
 {
     protected $repositories = array();
     protected $packages = array();
     protected $packageByName = array();
+    protected $acceptableStabilities;
+
+    public function __construct($minimumStability = 'dev')
+    {
+        $stabilities = array(
+            'stable',
+            'RC',
+            'beta',
+            'alpha',
+            'dev',
+        );
+
+        $this->acceptableStabilities = array_flip(array_splice($stabilities, 0, array_search($minimumStability, $stabilities) + 1));
+    }
 
     /**
      * Adds a repository and its packages to this package pool
@@ -33,14 +51,27 @@ class Pool
      */
     public function addRepository(RepositoryInterface $repo)
     {
-        $this->repositories[] = $repo;
+        if ($repo instanceof CompositeRepository) {
+            $repos = $repo->getRepositories();
+        } else {
+            $repos = array($repo);
+        }
 
-        foreach ($repo->getPackages() as $package) {
-            $package->setId(count($this->packages) + 1);
-            $this->packages[] = $package;
+        foreach ($repos as $repo) {
+            $this->repositories[] = $repo;
 
-            foreach ($package->getNames() as $name) {
-                $this->packageByName[$name][] = $package;
+            $exempt = $repo instanceof PlatformRepository || $repo instanceof InstalledRepositoryInterface;
+            foreach ($repo->getPackages() as $package) {
+                if (!$exempt && !isset($this->acceptableStabilities[$package->getStability()])) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                $package->setId(count($this->packages) + 1);
+                $this->packages[] = $package;
+
+                foreach ($package->getNames() as $name) {
+                    $this->packageByName[$name][] = $package;
+                }
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/Composer/Installer.php b/src/Composer/Installer.php
index 2f7a3b137..097c70529 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Installer.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Installer.php
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ class Installer
         }
 
         // creating repository pool
-        $pool = new Pool;
+        $pool = new Pool($this->package->getMinimumStability());
         $pool->addRepository($installedRepo);
         foreach ($this->repositoryManager->getRepositories() as $repository) {
             $pool->addRepository($repository);
diff --git a/src/Composer/Package/Loader/RootPackageLoader.php b/src/Composer/Package/Loader/RootPackageLoader.php
index 496463222..45c8f25e8 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Package/Loader/RootPackageLoader.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Package/Loader/RootPackageLoader.php
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ class RootPackageLoader extends ArrayLoader
             $package->setAliases($aliases);
         }
 
+        if (isset($config['minimum-stability'])) {
+            $package->setMinimumStability($config['minimum-stability']);
+        }
+
         if (isset($config['repositories'])) {
             foreach ($config['repositories'] as $index => $repo) {
                 if (isset($repo['packagist']) && $repo['packagist'] === false) {
diff --git a/src/Composer/Package/MemoryPackage.php b/src/Composer/Package/MemoryPackage.php
index cc8f9ff1c..3f701cd31 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Package/MemoryPackage.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Package/MemoryPackage.php
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ class MemoryPackage extends BasePackage
     protected $prettyAlias;
     protected $dev;
 
+    protected $minimumStability = 'dev';
+
     protected $requires = array();
     protected $conflicts = array();
     protected $provides = array();
@@ -597,6 +599,24 @@ class MemoryPackage extends BasePackage
         return $this->homepage;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Set the minimumStability
+     *
+     * @param string $minimumStability
+     */
+    public function setMinimumStability($minimumStability)
+    {
+        $this->minimumStability = $minimumStability;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
+     */
+    public function getMinimumStability()
+    {
+        return $this->minimumStability;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Set the autoload mapping
      *