diff --git a/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/projectRoots/impl/JavaSdkImpl.java b/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/projectRoots/impl/JavaSdkImpl.java
index 87f768fa57ae..dc27d8dfc916 100644
--- a/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/projectRoots/impl/JavaSdkImpl.java
+++ b/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/projectRoots/impl/JavaSdkImpl.java
@@ -148,6 +148,14 @@ public final class JavaSdkImpl extends JavaSdk {
     };
   }
 
+  @NotNull
+  @Override
+  public Comparator<String> versionStringComparator() {
+    return (sdk1, sdk2) -> {
+      return Comparing.compare(getJavaVersion(sdk1), getJavaVersion(sdk2));
+    };
+  }
+
   @Override
   public String getBinPath(@NotNull Sdk sdk) {
     return getConvertedHomePath(sdk) + "bin";
@@ -341,9 +349,17 @@ public final class JavaSdkImpl extends JavaSdk {
     return version != null ? JavaSdkVersion.fromJavaVersion(version) : null;
   }
 
-  private JavaVersion getJavaVersion(Sdk sdk) {
+  @Nullable
+  private JavaVersion getJavaVersion(@NotNull Sdk sdk) {
     String versionString = sdk.getVersionString();
-    return versionString != null ? myCachedVersionStringToJdkVersion.computeIfAbsent(versionString, JavaVersion::tryParse) : null;
+    return getJavaVersion(versionString);
+  }
+
+  @Nullable
+  private JavaVersion getJavaVersion(@Nullable String versionString) {
+    return versionString != null
+           ? myCachedVersionStringToJdkVersion.computeIfAbsent(versionString, JavaVersion::tryParse)
+           : null;
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/platform/projectModel-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/projectRoots/SdkTypeId.java b/platform/projectModel-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/projectRoots/SdkTypeId.java
index 7ef4e3f5c92f..dd1dbe61800e 100644
--- a/platform/projectModel-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/projectRoots/SdkTypeId.java
+++ b/platform/projectModel-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/projectRoots/SdkTypeId.java
@@ -35,10 +35,22 @@ public interface SdkTypeId {
    */
   @NotNull
   default Comparator<Sdk> versionComparator() {
+    Comparator<String> versionStringComparator = versionStringComparator();
     return (sdk1, sdk2) -> {
       assert sdk1.getSdkType() == this : sdk1;
       assert sdk2.getSdkType() == this : sdk2;
-      return StringUtil.compareVersionNumbers(sdk1.getVersionString(), sdk2.getVersionString());
+      return versionStringComparator.compare(sdk1.getVersionString(), sdk2.getVersionString());
     };
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+
+  /**
+   * A comparator to compare versions of SDKs of that SdkType, e.g. versions from
+   * {@link Sdk#getVersionString()} or {@link SdkType#getVersionString}
+   * <br />
+   * The implementation has to be synchronized with {@link #versionComparator()}
+   */
+  @NotNull
+  default Comparator<String> versionStringComparator() {
+    return (v1, v2) -> StringUtil.compareVersionNumbers(v1, v2);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/python/testSrc/com/jetbrains/python/PythonMockSdk.java b/python/testSrc/com/jetbrains/python/PythonMockSdk.java
index 6c151b9ef15d..df59537ecd4f 100644
--- a/python/testSrc/com/jetbrains/python/PythonMockSdk.java
+++ b/python/testSrc/com/jetbrains/python/PythonMockSdk.java
@@ -99,11 +99,5 @@ public class PythonMockSdk {
     public boolean isLocalSdk(@NotNull Sdk sdk) {
       return false;
     }
-
-    @NotNull
-    @Override
-    public Comparator<Sdk> versionComparator() {
-      return null;
-    }
   }
 }