diff --git a/cabal2nix/cabal2nix.cabal b/cabal2nix/cabal2nix.cabal
index 35964acb..81832c85 100644
--- a/cabal2nix/cabal2nix.cabal
+++ b/cabal2nix/cabal2nix.cabal
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ library
                     , directory
                     , distribution-nixpkgs >= 1.7 && <1.8
                     , filepath
-                    , hackage-db           >= 2.0.1
+                    , hackage-db           >= 2.2.0
                     , hopenssl             >= 2
                     , hpack                >= 0.29.6
                     , language-nix
diff --git a/cabal2nix/src/Distribution/Nixpkgs/Haskell/Hackage.hs b/cabal2nix/src/Distribution/Nixpkgs/Haskell/Hackage.hs
index 4ed8aa50..9e52beb4 100644
--- a/cabal2nix/src/Distribution/Nixpkgs/Haskell/Hackage.hs
+++ b/cabal2nix/src/Distribution/Nixpkgs/Haskell/Hackage.hs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 module Distribution.Nixpkgs.Haskell.Hackage
   ( HackageDB, PackageData, VersionData(..)
   , hackageTarball, readTarball, parsePackageData
+  , latestPreferredVersion
   )
   where
 
@@ -23,9 +24,18 @@ data VersionData = VersionData
   { cabalFile :: !GenericPackageDescription
   , cabalFileSha256 :: !String
   , tarballSha256 :: !(Maybe String)
+  , preferred :: !Bool
   }
   deriving (Show)
 
+-- Look up the latest preferred version. If there are no preferred versions, use the latest one.
+latestPreferredVersion :: PackageData -> Maybe VersionData
+latestPreferredVersion pd
+  | Map.null pd = Nothing -- TODO: shouldn't happen, more specific error?
+  | otherwise = Just $ snd $ Map.findMax (if Map.null ppd then pd else ppd)
+  where
+    ppd = Map.filter preferred pd
+
 readTarball :: Maybe UTCTime -> FilePath -> IO HackageDB
 readTarball ts p = do
   dbu <- U.readTarball ts p
@@ -33,13 +43,14 @@ readTarball ts p = do
   return (mapWithKey (parsePackageData dbu) dbp)
 
 parsePackageData :: U.HackageDB -> PackageName -> P.PackageData -> PackageData
-parsePackageData dbu pn = mapWithKey (parseVersionData (dbu ! pn))
+parsePackageData dbu pn = mapWithKey (parseVersionData (dbu ! pn)) . P.versions
 
 parseVersionData :: U.PackageData -> Version -> P.VersionData -> VersionData
 parseVersionData pdu v vd = VersionData
                             { cabalFile = P.cabalFile vd
                             , cabalFileSha256 = printSHA256 (digest (digestByName "sha256") file)
                             , tarballSha256 = Map.lookup "sha256" (P.tarballHashes vd)
+                            , preferred = P.preferred vd
                             }
   where
     file = U.cabalFile (U.versions pdu ! v)
diff --git a/cabal2nix/src/Distribution/Nixpkgs/Haskell/PackageSourceSpec.hs b/cabal2nix/src/Distribution/Nixpkgs/Haskell/PackageSourceSpec.hs
index f08ea37b..282c3284 100644
--- a/cabal2nix/src/Distribution/Nixpkgs/Haskell/PackageSourceSpec.hs
+++ b/cabal2nix/src/Distribution/Nixpkgs/Haskell/PackageSourceSpec.hs
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ fromDB hackageDBIO pkg = do
 
   lookupVersion :: DB.Map Version DB.VersionData -> Maybe DB.VersionData
   -- No version is specified, pick latest one
-  lookupVersion m | version == nullVersion  = fmap snd (listToMaybe (DB.toDescList m))
+  lookupVersion m | version == nullVersion  = DB.latestPreferredVersion m
   lookupVersion m                           = DB.lookup version m
 
 readFileMay :: FilePath -> IO (Maybe String)
diff --git a/hackage-db/CHANGELOG.md b/hackage-db/CHANGELOG.md
index fa76e46a..8efe62ab 100644
--- a/hackage-db/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/hackage-db/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,22 @@
 # Revision history for hackage-db
 
+## 2.2.0 (unreleased)
+
+* `Distribution.Hackage.DB.Parsed.parsePackageData` no longer filters out
+  package versions that are not preferred. This means that the list of
+  available versions will no longer differ between the `Parsed` and
+  `Unparsed` modules. This is a **breaking change**.
+  To restore the old behavior, use the `preferred` field of `VersionData`
+  to filter the `versions` map (see below).
+* `Distribution.Hackage.DB.Parsed.PackageData` has been changed from a type
+  alias to a sum type. Its previous content is the new `versions` field.
+  This is an **API breaking change**.
+* `Distribution.Hackage.DB.Parsed.VersionData` gains a new field, `preferred`
+  which describes whether the package version in question matches the
+  `preferred-versions` range given also exposed via the `preferredVersions`
+  field of `Distribution.Hackage.DB.Parsed.PackageData`.
+  This is an **API breaking change**.
+
 ## 2.1.3
 
 * `hackageTarball` / `cabalStateDir` now support overriding the cabal directory
diff --git a/hackage-db/example/show-package-versions.hs b/hackage-db/example/show-package-versions.hs
index 7db81dfa..4f34f74f 100644
--- a/hackage-db/example/show-package-versions.hs
+++ b/hackage-db/example/show-package-versions.hs
@@ -13,5 +13,5 @@ main = do
   db <- hackageTarball >>= readTarball Nothing
   pkgs <- getArgs
   forM_ pkgs $ \pkg -> do
-    let vs = maybe [] Map.keys (Map.lookup (mkPackageName pkg) db)
+    let vs = maybe [] (Map.keys . versions) (Map.lookup (mkPackageName pkg) db)
     putStrLn $ pkg ++ ": " ++ unwords (fmap display vs)
diff --git a/hackage-db/hackage-db.cabal b/hackage-db/hackage-db.cabal
index e53a71ce..c6dd0e4e 100644
--- a/hackage-db/hackage-db.cabal
+++ b/hackage-db/hackage-db.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:          hackage-db
-version:       2.1.3
+version:       2.2.0
 synopsis:      Access cabal-install's Hackage database via Data.Map
 description:   This library provides convenient access to the local copy of the Hackage
                database that \"cabal update\" creates. Check out
diff --git a/hackage-db/src/Distribution/Hackage/DB.hs b/hackage-db/src/Distribution/Hackage/DB.hs
index 5e096c10..85d86001 100644
--- a/hackage-db/src/Distribution/Hackage/DB.hs
+++ b/hackage-db/src/Distribution/Hackage/DB.hs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  -}
 
 module Distribution.Hackage.DB
-  ( HackageDB, PackageData, VersionData(..)
+  ( HackageDB, PackageData(..), VersionData(..)
   , readTarball, parseTarball, hackageTarball
   )
   where
diff --git a/hackage-db/src/Distribution/Hackage/DB/Parsed.hs b/hackage-db/src/Distribution/Hackage/DB/Parsed.hs
index c4dec644..934fb83f 100644
--- a/hackage-db/src/Distribution/Hackage/DB/Parsed.hs
+++ b/hackage-db/src/Distribution/Hackage/DB/Parsed.hs
@@ -31,10 +31,14 @@ import GHC.Generics ( Generic )
 
 type HackageDB = Map PackageName PackageData
 
-type PackageData = Map Version VersionData
+data PackageData = PackageData { versions :: !(Map Version VersionData)
+                               , preferredVersions :: !VersionRange
+                               }
+  deriving (Show, Eq, Generic)
 
 data VersionData = VersionData { cabalFile :: !GenericPackageDescription
                                , tarballHashes :: !(Map String String)
+                               , preferred :: !Bool
                                }
   deriving (Show, Eq, Generic)
 
@@ -48,19 +52,18 @@ parseDB :: U.HackageDB -> HackageDB
 parseDB = Map.mapWithKey parsePackageData
 
 parsePackageData :: PackageName -> U.PackageData -> PackageData
-parsePackageData pn (U.PackageData pv vs') =
+parsePackageData pn (U.PackageData pv vs) =
   mapException (\e -> HackageDBPackageName pn (e :: SomeException)) $
-    Map.mapWithKey (parseVersionData pn) $
-      Map.filterWithKey (\v _ -> v `withinRange` vr) vs'
+    PackageData (Map.mapWithKey (parseVersionData pn vr) vs) vr
   where
     PackageVersionConstraint _ vr
       | BSS.null pv = PackageVersionConstraint pn anyVersion
       | otherwise = parseBS "preferred version range" pv
 
-parseVersionData :: PackageName -> Version -> U.VersionData -> VersionData
-parseVersionData pn v (U.VersionData cf m) =
+parseVersionData :: PackageName -> VersionRange -> Version -> U.VersionData -> VersionData
+parseVersionData pn vr v (U.VersionData cf m) =
    mapException (\e -> HackageDBPackageVersion v (e :: SomeException)) $
-     VersionData gpd (parseMetaData pn v m)
+     VersionData gpd (parseMetaData pn v m) (v `withinRange` vr)
   where
     gpd = fromMaybe (throw (InvalidCabalFile (show (pn,v)))) $
             parseGenericPackageDescriptionMaybe cf