diff --git a/PRECOMPILATION_GUIDE.md b/PRECOMPILATION_GUIDE.md
index c4099ab..8ed891f 100644
--- a/PRECOMPILATION_GUIDE.md
+++ b/PRECOMPILATION_GUIDE.md
@@ -105,17 +105,49 @@ Directory structures and symbolic links are preserved.
 
 #### `make_precompiler_nif_versions` (optional config key)
 
-The third optional config key is `make_precompiler_nif_versions`. The default value is 
+The third optional config key is `make_precompiler_nif_versions`, which configures `elixir_make` on how to compile and reuse precompiled binaries.
+
+The default value for `make_precompiler_nif_versions` is 
 
 ```elixir
 [versions: ["#{:erlang.system_info(:nif_version)}"]]
 ```
 
-If you'd like to aim for an older NIF version, say `2.15` for Erlang/OTP 23 and 24, then you need to setup CI correspondingly and set the value of this key to `[versions: ["2.15", "2.16"]]`. This optional key will only be checked when downloading precompiled artefacts.
+There're three sub-keys for `make_precompiler_nif_versions`:
+
+- `versions` 
+- `fallback_version`
+- `availability`
+
+##### `versions` sub-key
+
+The `versions` sub-key is a list of NIF versions that the precompiled artefacts are available for:
+
+```elixir
+make_precompiler_nif_versions: [
+  versions: ["2.15", "2.16"]
+]
+```
+
+The default behaviour is to use the exact NIF version that is available to the current target. If one is not available, it may fallback (see `fallback_version` next) to the highest matching major version prior to the current version. For example:
+
+- if the current host is using Erlang/OTP 23 (NIF version `2.15`), `elixir_make` will use the precompiled artefacts for NIF version `2.15`; 
+- if the current host is using Erlang/OTP 24 or 25 (NIF version `2.16`), `elixir_make` will use the precompiled artefacts for NIF version `2.16`; 
+- if the current host is using Erlang/OTP 26 or newer (NIF version `2.17`), `elixir_make` will fallback to the precompiled artefacts for NIF version `2.16`;
+
+If the current host is using Erlang/OTP with a new major Erlang NIF version (NIF version `3.0`) or anything earlier than the precompiled versions (`2.14`), `elixir_make` will compile from scratch.
+
+##### `fallback_version` sub-key
+
+The behaviour when `elixir_make` cannot find the exact NIF version of the precompiled binary can be customized by setting the `fallback_version` sub-key. The value of the `fallback_version` sub-key should be a function that accepts three arguments, `target`, `current_nif_version` and `target_versions`. The `target` is the target triplet (or other name format, defined by the precompiler of your choice), `current_nif_version` is the NIF version on the current host, and `target_versions` is a list of NIF versions that are available to the target.
+
+The `fallback_version` function should return either the NIF version that `elixir_make` should use from the `target_versions` list or the `current_nif_version`.
+
+##### `availability` sub-key
 
 For some platforms maybe we only have precompiled artefacts after a certain NIF version, say for x86_64 Windows we have precompiled artefacts available when NIF version >= `2.16` while other platforms have precompiled artefacts available from NIF version >= `2.15`.
 
-In such case we can inform `:elixir_make` that Windows targets don't have precompiled artefacts available except for NIF version `2.16` by passing a function to the `availability` sub-key.
+In such case we can inform `:elixir_make` that Windows targets don't have precompiled artefacts available except for NIF version `2.16` by passing a function to the `availability` sub-key. This function should accept two arguments, `target` and `nif_version`, and returns a boolean value indicating whether the precompiled artefacts for the target and NIF version are available.
 
 ```elixir
 defp target_available_for_nif_version?(target, nif_version) do
diff --git a/lib/elixir_make/artefact.ex b/lib/elixir_make/artefact.ex
index 3e5d273..ca84591 100644
--- a/lib/elixir_make/artefact.ex
+++ b/lib/elixir_make/artefact.ex
@@ -141,6 +141,28 @@ defmodule ElixirMake.Artefact do
 
   ## Archive/NIF urls
 
+  defp nif_version_to_tuple(nif_version) do
+    [major, minor | _] = String.split(nif_version, ".")
+    {String.to_integer(major), String.to_integer(minor)}
+  end
+
+  defp fallback_version(_current_target, current_nif_version, versions) do
+    {major, minor} = nif_version_to_tuple(current_nif_version)
+
+    # Get all matching major versions, earlier than the current version
+    # and their distance. We want the closest (smallest distance).
+    candidates =
+      for version <- versions,
+          {^major, candidate_minor} <- [nif_version_to_tuple(version)],
+          candidate_minor <= minor,
+          do: {minor - candidate_minor, version}
+
+    case Enum.sort(candidates) do
+      [{_, version} | _] -> version
+      _ -> current_nif_version
+    end
+  end
+
   @doc """
   Returns all available {{target, nif_version}, url} pairs available.
   """
@@ -151,27 +173,31 @@ defmodule ElixirMake.Artefact do
       config[:make_precompiler_url] ||
         Mix.raise("`make_precompiler_url` is not specified in `project`")
 
+    current_nif_version = "#{:erlang.system_info(:nif_version)}"
+
     nif_versions =
       config[:make_precompiler_nif_versions] ||
-        [versions: ["#{:erlang.system_info(:nif_version)}"]]
+        [versions: [current_nif_version]]
+
+    versions = nif_versions[:versions]
 
     Enum.reduce(targets, [], fn target, archives ->
       archive_filenames =
-        Enum.reduce(nif_versions[:versions], [], fn nif_version, acc ->
+        Enum.reduce(versions, [], fn nif_version_for_target, acc ->
           availability = nif_versions[:availability]
 
           available? =
             if is_function(availability, 2) do
-              availability.(target, nif_version)
+              availability.(target, nif_version_for_target)
             else
               true
             end
 
           if available? do
-            archive_filename = archive_filename(config, target, nif_version)
+            archive_filename = archive_filename(config, target, nif_version_for_target)
 
             [
-              {{target, nif_version},
+              {{target, nif_version_for_target},
                String.replace(url_template, "@{artefact_filename}", archive_filename)}
               | acc
             ]
@@ -187,11 +213,25 @@ defmodule ElixirMake.Artefact do
   @doc """
   Returns the url for the current target.
   """
-  def current_target_url(config, precompiler, nif_version) do
+  def current_target_url(config, precompiler, current_nif_version) do
     case precompiler.current_target() do
       {:ok, current_target} ->
+        nif_versions =
+          config[:make_precompiler_nif_versions] ||
+            [versions: []]
+
+        versions = nif_versions[:versions]
+
+        nif_version_to_use =
+          if current_nif_version in versions do
+            current_nif_version
+          else
+            fallback_version = nif_versions[:fallback_version] || (&fallback_version/3)
+            fallback_version.(current_target, current_nif_version, versions)
+          end
+
         available_urls = available_target_urls(config, precompiler)
-        target_at_nif_version = {current_target, nif_version}
+        target_at_nif_version = {current_target, nif_version_to_use}
 
         case List.keyfind(available_urls, target_at_nif_version, 0) do
           {^target_at_nif_version, download_url} ->
diff --git a/lib/mix/tasks/elixir_make.checksum.ex b/lib/mix/tasks/elixir_make.checksum.ex
index 088f915..dea63de 100644
--- a/lib/mix/tasks/elixir_make.checksum.ex
+++ b/lib/mix/tasks/elixir_make.checksum.ex
@@ -54,9 +54,11 @@ defmodule Mix.Tasks.ElixirMake.Checksum do
           Artefact.available_target_urls(config, precompiler)
 
         Keyword.get(options, :only_local) ->
-          case Artefact.current_target_url(config, precompiler, :erlang.system_info(:nif_version)) do
+          current_nif_version = "#{:erlang.system_info(:nif_version)}"
+
+          case Artefact.current_target_url(config, precompiler, current_nif_version) do
             {:ok, target, url} ->
-              [{{target, "#{:erlang.system_info(:nif_version)}"}, url}]
+              [{{target, current_nif_version}, url}]
 
             {:error, {:unavailable_target, current_target, error}} ->
               recover =