diff --git a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/GhcPkg.hs b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/GhcPkg.hs
index 6c1f5b8..dcbadcf 100644
--- a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/GhcPkg.hs
+++ b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/GhcPkg.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{-# LANGUAGE BangPatterns, ScopedTypeVariables, TupleSections #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP, BangPatterns, ScopedTypeVariables, TupleSections #-}
 module Language.Haskell.GhcMod.GhcPkg (
     ghcPkgDbOpt
   , ghcPkgDbStackOpts
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ module Language.Haskell.GhcMod.GhcPkg (
 
 import Config (cProjectVersionInt)
 import Control.Applicative ((<$>))
+#if MIN_VERSION_Cabal(1,18,0)
 import Control.Exception (SomeException(..))
+#endif
 import qualified Control.Exception as E
 import Data.Char (isSpace)
 import Data.List (isPrefixOf, intercalate)
@@ -51,8 +53,12 @@ getPackageDbStack :: FilePath -- ^ Project Directory (where the
                                  -- exists)
                   -> IO [GhcPkgDb]
 getPackageDbStack cdir =
+#if MIN_VERSION_Cabal(1,18,0)
     (getSandboxDb cdir >>= \db -> return [GlobalDb, PackageDb db])
       `E.catch` \(_ :: SomeException) -> return [GlobalDb, UserDb]
+#else
+    return [GlobalDb, UserDb]
+#endif
 
 fromInstalledPackageId' :: InstalledPackageId -> Maybe Package
 fromInstalledPackageId' pid = let
diff --git a/test/CabalApiSpec.hs b/test/CabalApiSpec.hs
index d7b1d13..cd010dd 100644
--- a/test/CabalApiSpec.hs
+++ b/test/CabalApiSpec.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{-# LANGUAGE ScopedTypeVariables #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP, ScopedTypeVariables #-}
 
 module CabalApiSpec where
 
@@ -36,9 +36,15 @@ spec = do
                         ghcOptions  = ghcOptions res
                       , includeDirs = map (toRelativeDir dir) (includeDirs res)
                       }
+#if MIN_VERSION_Cabal(1,18,0)
                 if ghcVersion < 706
                   then ghcOptions res' `shouldContain` ["-global-package-conf", "-no-user-package-conf","-package-conf",cwd </> "test/data/.cabal-sandbox/i386-osx-ghc-7.6.3-packages.conf.d","-XHaskell98"]
                   else ghcOptions res' `shouldContain` ["-global-package-db", "-no-user-package-db","-package-db",cwd </> "test/data/.cabal-sandbox/i386-osx-ghc-7.6.3-packages.conf.d","-XHaskell98"]
+#else
+                if ghcVersion < 706
+                  then ghcOptions res' `shouldContain` ["-global-package-conf", "-user-package-conf","-XHaskell98"]
+                  else ghcOptions res' `shouldContain` ["-global-package-db", "-user-package-db","-XHaskell98"]
+#endif
                 includeDirs res' `shouldBe` ["test/data","test/data/dist/build","test/data/dist/build/autogen","test/data/subdir1/subdir2","test/data/test"]
                 (pkgName `map` depPackages res') `shouldContain` ["Cabal"]
 
diff --git a/test/CradleSpec.hs b/test/CradleSpec.hs
index 2bf54e1..38fd869 100644
--- a/test/CradleSpec.hs
+++ b/test/CradleSpec.hs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
 module CradleSpec where
 
 import Control.Applicative
@@ -31,7 +32,11 @@ spec = do
                     cradleCurrentDir = "test" </> "data" </> "subdir1" </> "subdir2"
                   , cradleRootDir    = "test" </> "data"
                   , cradleCabalFile  = Just ("test" </> "data" </> "cabalapi.cabal")
+#if MIN_VERSION_Cabal(1,18,0)
                   , cradlePkgDbStack = [GlobalDb, PackageDb (cwd </> "test/data/.cabal-sandbox/i386-osx-ghc-7.6.3-packages.conf.d")]
+#else
+                  , cradlePkgDbStack = [GlobalDb, UserDb]
+#endif
                   }
         it "works even if a sandbox config file is broken" $ do
             withDirectory "test/data/broken-sandbox" $ \dir -> do
diff --git a/test/GhcPkgSpec.hs b/test/GhcPkgSpec.hs
index 1859829..3c84177 100644
--- a/test/GhcPkgSpec.hs
+++ b/test/GhcPkgSpec.hs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
 module GhcPkgSpec where
 
 import Language.Haskell.GhcMod.GhcPkg
+import Language.Haskell.GhcMod.Types
 
 import System.Directory
 import System.FilePath ((</>))
@@ -8,7 +10,12 @@ import Test.Hspec
 
 spec :: Spec
 spec = do
-    describe "getSandboxDb" $ do
+    describe "getPackageDbStack" $ do
+#if !MIN_VERSION_Cabal(1,18,0)
+        it "does not include a sandbox with Cabal < 1.18" $ do
+            cwd <- getCurrentDirectory
+            getPackageDbStack cwd `shouldReturn` [GlobalDb, UserDb]
+#endif
         it "parses a config file and extracts sandbox package db" $ do
             cwd <- getCurrentDirectory
             pkgDb <- getSandboxDb "test/data/"