diff --git a/pkgs/development/beam-modules/default.nix b/pkgs/development/beam-modules/default.nix
index 00443350a7d9..0db695befe6d 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/beam-modules/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/beam-modules/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 { stdenv, pkgs, erlang, overrides ? (self: super: {}) }:
 
 let
-  inherit (stdenv.lib) fix' extends;
+  inherit (stdenv.lib) fix' extends getVersion versionAtLeast;
+
+  lib = pkgs.callPackage ./lib.nix {};
 
   # FIXME: add support for overrideScope
   callPackageWithScope = scope: drv: args: stdenv.lib.callPackageWith scope drv args;
@@ -34,12 +36,18 @@ let
         buildErlangMk = callPackage ./build-erlang-mk.nix {};
         buildMix = callPackage ./build-mix.nix {};
 
-        ## Non hex packages
+        # BEAM-based languages.
+        elixir = if versionAtLeast (lib.getVersion erlang) "18"
+                 then callPackage ../interpreters/elixir { debugInfo = true; }
+                 else throw "Elixir requires at least Erlang/OTP R18.";
+        lfe = callPackage ../interpreters/lfe { };
+
+        # Non hex packages
         hex = callPackage ./hex {};
         webdriver = callPackage ./webdriver {};
 
-        hex2nix = callPackage ../tools/erlang/hex2nix { };
-        cuter = callPackage ../tools/erlang/cuter { };
+        hex2nix = callPackage ../tools/erlang/hex2nix {};
+        cuter = callPackage ../tools/erlang/cuter {};
         relxExe = callPackage ../tools/erlang/relx-exe {};
       };
 in fix' (extends overrides packages)
diff --git a/pkgs/development/beam-modules/lib.nix b/pkgs/development/beam-modules/lib.nix
index ae2705613f0c..009bfb4975b6 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/beam-modules/lib.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/beam-modules/lib.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ pkgs }:
+{ pkgs, stdenv }:
 
 rec {
 
@@ -12,6 +12,15 @@ rec {
 
   callPackage = callPackageWith pkgs;
 
+  /* Erlang/OTP-specific version retrieval, returns 19 for OTP R19 */
+  getVersion = x:
+   let
+     parse = drv: (builtins.parseDrvName drv).version;
+   in builtins.replaceStrings ["B" "-"] ["." "."] (
+      if builtins.isString x
+      then parse x
+      else x.version or (parse x.name));
+
   /* Uses generic-builder to evaluate provided drv containing OTP-version
   specific data.
 
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/beam-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/beam-packages.nix
index ccf22d6c5348..9e0234ac1e23 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/beam-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/beam-packages.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 { pkgs, stdenv, callPackage, wxGTK30, darwin }:
 
 rec {
-  lib = import ../development/beam-modules/lib.nix { inherit pkgs; };
+  lib = callPackage ../development/beam-modules/lib.nix {};
 
   # Each
   interpreters = rec {
@@ -45,9 +45,11 @@ rec {
       odbcSupport = true;
     };
 
-    # Other Beam languages. These are built with beam.interpreters.erlang.
-    elixir = callPackage ../development/interpreters/elixir { debugInfo = true; };
-    lfe = callPackage ../development/interpreters/lfe { };
+    # Other Beam languages. These are built with `beam.interpreters.erlang`. To
+    # access for example elixir built with different version of Erlang, use
+    # `beam.packages.erlangR19.elixir`.
+    elixir = packages.erlang.elixir;
+    lfe = packages.erlang.lfe;
   };
 
   # Helper function to generate package set with a specific Erlang version.