diff --git a/Library/Contributions/brew_bash_completion.sh b/Library/Contributions/brew_bash_completion.sh
index 355d6443f8..8299ef9a9f 100644
--- a/Library/Contributions/brew_bash_completion.sh
+++ b/Library/Contributions/brew_bash_completion.sh
@@ -197,6 +197,11 @@ _brew_to_completion()
             COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -W "$opts" -- ${cur}) )
             return
             ;;
+        versions)
+            local opts=$([[ "${COMP_WORDS[*]}" =~ "--compact" ]] || echo "--compact")
+            COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -W "$opts" -- ${cur}) )
+            return
+            ;;
         esac
     fi
 
diff --git a/Library/Contributions/manpages/brew.1.md b/Library/Contributions/manpages/brew.1.md
index 2293b60f61..66fb3eb412 100644
--- a/Library/Contributions/manpages/brew.1.md
+++ b/Library/Contributions/manpages/brew.1.md
@@ -272,10 +272,13 @@ For the full command list, see the COMMANDS section.
 
     If `--installed` is passed, only list installed formulae.
 
-  * `versions` <formulae>:
+  * `versions [--compact]` <formulae>:
     List previous versions of <formulae>, along with a command to checkout
     each version.
 
+    If `--compact` is passed, show all options on a single line separated by
+    spaces.
+
   * `--cache`:
     Display Homebrew's download cache. *Default:* `~/Library/Caches/Homebrew`
 
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/versions.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/versions.rb
index bd234d8439..906fc4f8c5 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/versions.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/versions.rb
@@ -5,11 +5,15 @@ module Homebrew extend self
     raise "Please `brew install git` first" unless system "/usr/bin/which -s git"
 
     ARGV.formulae.all? do |f|
-      f.versions do |version, sha|
-        print Tty.white
-        print "#{version.ljust(8)} "
-        print Tty.reset
-        puts "git checkout #{sha} #{f.pretty_relative_path}"
+      if ARGV.include? '--compact'
+        puts f.versions * " "
+      else
+        f.versions do |version, sha|
+          print Tty.white
+          print "#{version.ljust(8)} "
+          print Tty.reset
+          puts "git checkout #{sha} #{f.pretty_relative_path}"
+        end
       end
     end
   end
@@ -55,14 +59,10 @@ class Formula
     end
 
     def version_for_sha sha
-      begin
-        version = mktemp do
-          path = Pathname.new(Pathname.pwd+"#{name}.rb")
-          path.write text_from_sha(sha)
-          Formula.factory(path).version
-        end
-      rescue
-        opoo "Version of #{name} could not be determined for #{sha}."
-      end
+      mktemp do
+        path = Pathname.new(Pathname.pwd+"#{name}.rb")
+        path.write text_from_sha(sha)
+        Formula.factory(path).version
+      end rescue nil
     end
 end
diff --git a/share/man/man1/brew.1 b/share/man/man1/brew.1
index 93009e2427..c2774aced0 100644
--- a/share/man/man1/brew.1
+++ b/share/man/man1/brew.1
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 .\" generated with Ronn/v0.7.3
 .\" http://github.com/rtomayko/ronn/tree/0.7.3
 .
-.TH "BREW" "1" "December 2011" "Homebrew" "brew"
+.TH "BREW" "1" "January 2012" "Homebrew" "brew"
 .
 .SH "NAME"
 \fBbrew\fR \- The missing package manager for OS X
@@ -304,9 +304,12 @@ Show the formulas that specify \fIformula\fR as a dependency\. The list is not r
 If \fB\-\-installed\fR is passed, only list installed formulae\.
 .
 .TP
-\fBversions\fR \fIformulae\fR
+\fBversions [\-\-compact]\fR \fIformulae\fR
 List previous versions of \fIformulae\fR, along with a command to checkout each version\.
 .
+.IP
+If \fB\-\-compact\fR is passed, show all options on a single line separated by spaces\.
+.
 .TP
 \fB\-\-cache\fR
 Display Homebrew\'s download cache\. \fIDefault:\fR \fB~/Library/Caches/Homebrew\fR