diff --git a/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/IncompatibleClassFileFormatException.java b/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/IncompatibleClassFileFormatException.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..da67bb23c6b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/IncompatibleClassFileFormatException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package org.jetbrains.android.uipreview;
+
+/**
+ * @author Eugene.Kudelevsky
+ */
+public class IncompatibleClassFileFormatException extends Exception {
+}
diff --git a/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/ProjectCallback.java b/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/ProjectCallback.java
index 8f5c2a3d3521..6d7fed659850 100644
--- a/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/ProjectCallback.java
+++ b/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/ProjectCallback.java
@@ -181,6 +181,11 @@ class ProjectCallback extends LegacyCallback implements IProjectCallback {
       }
       return null;
     }
+    catch (UnsupportedClassVersionError e) {
+      LOG.info(e);
+      myBrokenClasses.put(className, e);
+      return null;
+    }
   }
 
   private Object createMockView(String className, Class[] constructorSignature, Object[] constructorArgs)
@@ -331,7 +336,7 @@ class ProjectCallback extends LegacyCallback implements IProjectCallback {
     return myBrokenClasses;
   }
 
-  public void loadAndParseRClass() throws ClassNotFoundException {
+  public void loadAndParseRClass() throws ClassNotFoundException, IncompatibleClassFileFormatException {
     final String className = ApplicationManager.getApplication().runReadAction(new Computable<String>() {
       @Nullable
       @Override
@@ -347,7 +352,12 @@ class ProjectCallback extends LegacyCallback implements IProjectCallback {
     Class<?> aClass = myLoadedClasses.get(className);
     if (aClass == null) {
       ProjectClassLoader loader = new ProjectClassLoader(null, myModule);
-      aClass = loader.loadClass(className);
+      try {
+        aClass = loader.loadClass(className);
+      }
+      catch (UnsupportedClassVersionError e) {
+        throw new IncompatibleClassFileFormatException();
+      }
       if (aClass != null) {
         myLoadedClasses.put(className, aClass);
       }
diff --git a/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/RenderUtil.java b/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/RenderUtil.java
index 65f8c9200670..5d7d57eab54e 100644
--- a/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/RenderUtil.java
+++ b/plugins/android/src/org/jetbrains/android/uipreview/RenderUtil.java
@@ -93,6 +93,9 @@ public class RenderUtil {
     catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
       LOG.debug(e);
     }
+    catch (IncompatibleClassFileFormatException e) {
+      LOG.debug(e);
+    }
 
     final RenderResources resolver =
       factory.createResourceResolver(facet, config, projectResources, theme.getName(), theme.isProjectTheme());
@@ -159,6 +162,11 @@ public class RenderUtil {
       missingRClassMessage = e.getMessage();
       missingRClass = true;
     }
+    catch (IncompatibleClassFileFormatException e) {
+      LOG.debug(e);
+      missingRClassMessage = "Incompatible R.class file format";
+      missingRClass = true;
+    }
 
     final RenderResources resolver =
       factory.createResourceResolver(facet, config, projectResources, theme.getName(), theme.isProjectTheme());