diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 6f7e50ce1..20d8ca7d3 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
         "forum": "https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/twig-users"
     },
     "require": {
-        "php": ">=5.2.4"
+        "php": ">=5.2.7"
     },
     "autoload": {
         "psr-0" : {
diff --git a/lib/Twig/Autoloader.php b/lib/Twig/Autoloader.php
index 36b10951c..87f741538 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/Autoloader.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/Autoloader.php
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ class Twig_Autoloader
      */
     public static function register($prepend = false)
     {
-        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.3.0', '>=')) {
-            spl_autoload_register(array(__CLASS__, 'autoload'), true, $prepend);
-        } else {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID < 50300) {
             spl_autoload_register(array(__CLASS__, 'autoload'));
+        } else {
+            spl_autoload_register(array(__CLASS__, 'autoload'), true, $prepend);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/lib/Twig/Error.php b/lib/Twig/Error.php
index afb8ddde0..90650c5fe 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/Error.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/Error.php
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class Twig_Error extends Exception
      */
     public function __construct($message, $lineno = -1, $filename = null, Exception $previous = null)
     {
-        if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3.0', '<')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID < 50300) {
             $this->previous = $previous;
             parent::__construct('');
         } else {
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ class Twig_Error extends Exception
         $template = null;
         $templateClass = null;
 
-        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.3.6', '>=')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50306) {
             $backtrace = debug_backtrace(DEBUG_BACKTRACE_IGNORE_ARGS | DEBUG_BACKTRACE_PROVIDE_OBJECT);
         } else {
             $backtrace = debug_backtrace();
diff --git a/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php b/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php
index 4dbee873c..92feea5e7 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php
@@ -617,7 +617,7 @@ function twig_urlencode_filter($url)
     return rawurlencode($url);
 }
 
-if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3.0', '<')) {
+if (PHP_VERSION_ID < 50300) {
     /**
      * JSON encodes a variable.
      *
@@ -1073,9 +1073,7 @@ function twig_escape_filter(Twig_Environment $env, $string, $strategy = 'html',
             return $string;
 
         case 'url':
-            // hackish test to avoid version_compare that is much slower, this works unless PHP releases a 5.10.*
-            // at that point however PHP 5.2.* support can be removed
-            if (PHP_VERSION < '5.3.0') {
+            if (PHP_VERSION_ID < 50300) {
                 return str_replace('%7E', '~', rawurlencode($string));
             }
 
diff --git a/lib/Twig/Node/Expression/Name.php b/lib/Twig/Node/Expression/Name.php
index 4cbdea975..0bfcdbc45 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/Node/Expression/Name.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/Node/Expression/Name.php
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class Twig_Node_Expression_Name extends Twig_Node_Expression
             // remove the non-PHP 5.4 version when PHP 5.3 support is dropped
             // as the non-optimized version is just a workaround for slow ternary operator
             // when the context has a lot of variables
-            if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.4.0RC1', '>=')) {
+            if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50400) {
                 // PHP 5.4 ternary operator performance was optimized
                 $compiler
                     ->raw('(isset($context[')
diff --git a/lib/Twig/NodeVisitor/Optimizer.php b/lib/Twig/NodeVisitor/Optimizer.php
index 6b4233b53..b9f9a5bfa 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/NodeVisitor/Optimizer.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/NodeVisitor/Optimizer.php
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ class Twig_NodeVisitor_Optimizer implements Twig_NodeVisitorInterface
             $this->enterOptimizeFor($node, $env);
         }
 
-        if (!version_compare(phpversion(), '5.4.0RC1', '>=') && self::OPTIMIZE_VAR_ACCESS === (self::OPTIMIZE_VAR_ACCESS & $this->optimizers) && !$env->isStrictVariables() && !$env->hasExtension('sandbox')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID < 50400 && self::OPTIMIZE_VAR_ACCESS === (self::OPTIMIZE_VAR_ACCESS & $this->optimizers) && !$env->isStrictVariables() && !$env->hasExtension('sandbox')) {
             if ($this->inABody) {
                 if (!$node instanceof Twig_Node_Expression) {
                     if (get_class($node) !== 'Twig_Node') {
diff --git a/lib/Twig/Test/NodeTestCase.php b/lib/Twig/Test/NodeTestCase.php
index 9eb44614f..bf865211b 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/Test/NodeTestCase.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/Test/NodeTestCase.php
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ abstract class Twig_Test_NodeTestCase extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
     {
         $line = $line > 0 ? "// line {$line}\n" : '';
 
-        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.4.0RC1', '>=')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50400) {
             return sprintf('%s(isset($context["%s"]) ? $context["%s"] : null)', $line, $name, $name);
         }
 
diff --git a/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/FilterTest.php b/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/FilterTest.php
index 2b85141cd..4aefa7e55 100644
--- a/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/FilterTest.php
+++ b/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/FilterTest.php
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class Twig_Tests_Node_Expression_FilterTest extends Twig_Test_NodeTestCase
         $tests[] = array($node, 'twig_reverse_filter($this->env, "abc", true)');
 
         // filter as an anonymous function
-        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.3.0', '>=')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50300) {
             $node = $this->createFilter(new Twig_Node_Expression_Constant('foo', 1), 'anonymous');
             $tests[] = array($node, 'call_user_func_array($this->env->getFilter(\'anonymous\')->getCallable(), array("foo"))');
         }
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class Twig_Tests_Node_Expression_FilterTest extends Twig_Test_NodeTestCase
 
     protected function getEnvironment()
     {
-        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.3.0', '>=')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50300) {
             return include 'PHP53/FilterInclude.php';
         }
 
diff --git a/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/FunctionTest.php b/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/FunctionTest.php
index 4d4a72192..209b8cf83 100644
--- a/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/FunctionTest.php
+++ b/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/FunctionTest.php
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ class Twig_Tests_Node_Expression_FunctionTest extends Twig_Test_NodeTestCase
         $tests[] = array($node, 'twig_date_converter($this->env, 0, "America/Chicago")');
 
         // function as an anonymous function
-        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.3.0', '>=')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50300) {
             $node = $this->createFunction('anonymous', array(new Twig_Node_Expression_Constant('foo', 1)));
             $tests[] = array($node, 'call_user_func_array($this->env->getFunction(\'anonymous\')->getCallable(), array("foo"))');
         }
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class Twig_Tests_Node_Expression_FunctionTest extends Twig_Test_NodeTestCase
 
     protected function getEnvironment()
     {
-        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.3.0', '>=')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50300) {
             return include 'PHP53/FunctionInclude.php';
         }
 
diff --git a/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/NameTest.php b/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/NameTest.php
index d013affad..905d8ee9b 100644
--- a/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/NameTest.php
+++ b/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/NameTest.php
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class Twig_Tests_Node_Expression_NameTest extends Twig_Test_NodeTestCase
         $env1 = new Twig_Environment(null, array('strict_variables' => false));
 
         return array(
-            array($node, "// line 1\n".(version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.4.0') >= 0 ? '(isset($context["foo"]) ? $context["foo"] : $this->getContext($context, "foo"))' : '$this->getContext($context, "foo")'), $env),
+            array($node, "// line 1\n".(PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50400 ? '(isset($context["foo"]) ? $context["foo"] : $this->getContext($context, "foo"))' : '$this->getContext($context, "foo")'), $env),
             array($node, $this->getVariableGetter('foo', 1), $env1),
             array($self, "// line 1\n\$this"),
             array($context, "// line 1\n\$context"),
diff --git a/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/TestTest.php b/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/TestTest.php
index 2f54a5a2e..e62a8afdd 100644
--- a/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/TestTest.php
+++ b/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/TestTest.php
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class Twig_Tests_Node_Expression_TestTest extends Twig_Test_NodeTestCase
         $tests[] = array($node, '(null === "foo")');
 
         // test as an anonymous function
-        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.3.0', '>=')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50300) {
             $node = $this->createTest(new Twig_Node_Expression_Constant('foo', 1), 'anonymous', array(new Twig_Node_Expression_Constant('foo', 1)));
             $tests[] = array($node, 'call_user_func_array($this->env->getTest(\'anonymous\')->getCallable(), array("foo", "foo"))');
         }
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class Twig_Tests_Node_Expression_TestTest extends Twig_Test_NodeTestCase
 
     protected function getEnvironment()
     {
-        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.3.0', '>=')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50300) {
             return include 'PHP53/TestInclude.php';
         }
 
diff --git a/test/Twig/Tests/NodeVisitor/OptimizerTest.php b/test/Twig/Tests/NodeVisitor/OptimizerTest.php
index 72c777c1e..f79104b8a 100644
--- a/test/Twig/Tests/NodeVisitor/OptimizerTest.php
+++ b/test/Twig/Tests/NodeVisitor/OptimizerTest.php
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class Twig_Tests_NodeVisitor_OptimizerTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
 
     public function testRenderVariableBlockOptimizer()
     {
-        if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.4.0RC1', '>=')) {
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50400) {
             return;
         }