diff --git a/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/roots/impl/LanguageLevelProjectExtensionImpl.java b/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/roots/impl/LanguageLevelProjectExtensionImpl.java
index 6464ad868774..7212e9d225a4 100644
--- a/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/roots/impl/LanguageLevelProjectExtensionImpl.java
+++ b/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/roots/impl/LanguageLevelProjectExtensionImpl.java
@@ -55,12 +55,21 @@ public class LanguageLevelProjectExtensionImpl extends LanguageLevelProjectExten
       myLanguageLevel = null;
     }
     else {
-      myLanguageLevel = LanguageLevel.valueOf(level);
+      myLanguageLevel = readLanguageLevel(level);
     }
     String aDefault = element.getAttributeValue(DEFAULT_ATTRIBUTE);
     setDefault(aDefault == null ? null : Boolean.parseBoolean(aDefault));
   }
 
+  private static LanguageLevel readLanguageLevel(String level) {
+    for (LanguageLevel languageLevel : LanguageLevel.values()) {
+      if (level.equals(languageLevel.name())) {
+        return languageLevel;
+      }
+    }
+    return LanguageLevel.HIGHEST;
+  }
+
   private void writeExternal(final Element element) {
     if (myLanguageLevel != null) {
       element.setAttribute(LANGUAGE_LEVEL, myLanguageLevel.name());