diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_add/mod.rs b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_add/mod.rs
index 5c519ac09f0c..2d531263d7e9 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_add/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_add/mod.rs
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ pub fn add(workspace: &Workspace<'_>, options: &AddOptions<'_>) -> CargoResult<(
                     &manifest,
                     raw,
                     workspace,
+                    &options.spec,
                     &options.section,
                     options.config,
                     &mut registry,
@@ -256,6 +257,7 @@ fn resolve_dependency(
     manifest: &LocalManifest,
     arg: &DepOp,
     ws: &Workspace<'_>,
+    spec: &Package,
     section: &DepTable,
     config: &Config,
     registry: &mut PackageRegistry<'_>,
@@ -368,7 +370,7 @@ fn resolve_dependency(
             }
             dependency = dependency.set_source(src);
         } else {
-            let latest = get_latest_dependency(&dependency, false, config, registry)?;
+            let latest = get_latest_dependency(spec, &dependency, false, config, registry)?;
 
             if dependency.name != latest.name {
                 config.shell().warn(format!(
@@ -518,6 +520,7 @@ fn get_existing_dependency(
 }
 
 fn get_latest_dependency(
+    spec: &Package,
     dependency: &Dependency,
     _flag_allow_prerelease: bool,
     config: &Config,
@@ -529,7 +532,7 @@ fn get_latest_dependency(
             unreachable!("registry dependencies required, found a workspace dependency");
         }
         MaybeWorkspace::Other(query) => {
-            let possibilities = loop {
+            let mut possibilities = loop {
                 match registry.query_vec(&query, QueryKind::Fuzzy) {
                     std::task::Poll::Ready(res) => {
                         break res?;
@@ -537,19 +540,78 @@ fn get_latest_dependency(
                     std::task::Poll::Pending => registry.block_until_ready()?,
                 }
             };
-            let latest = possibilities
-                .iter()
-                .max_by_key(|s| {
-                    // Fallback to a pre-release if no official release is available by sorting them as
-                    // less.
-                    let stable = s.version().pre.is_empty();
-                    (stable, s.version())
-                })
-                .ok_or_else(|| {
-                    anyhow::format_err!(
-                        "the crate `{dependency}` could not be found in registry index."
-                    )
-                })?;
+
+            possibilities.sort_by_key(|s| {
+                // Fallback to a pre-release if no official release is available by sorting them as
+                // less.
+                let stable = s.version().pre.is_empty();
+                (stable, s.version().clone())
+            });
+
+            let mut latest = possibilities.last().ok_or_else(|| {
+                anyhow::format_err!(
+                    "the crate `{dependency}` could not be found in registry index."
+                )
+            })?;
+
+            if config.cli_unstable().msrv_policy {
+                if let Some((req_major, req_minor, req_patch)) =
+                    spec.rust_version().map(parse_rust_version)
+                {
+                    let rust_versions = possibilities
+                        .iter()
+                        .map(|s| {
+                            let rust_version = s.rust_version().map(parse_rust_version);
+                            (s, rust_version)
+                        })
+                        .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+
+                    // Find the latest version of the dep which has a compatible rust-version,
+                    // treating candidates without a rust-version as compatible.
+                    let (latest_msrv, _) = rust_versions
+                        .iter()
+                        .filter(|(_, v)| {
+                            v.map(|(major, minor, patch)| {
+                                // Determine whether or not the rust-versions are compatible by
+                                // comparing the lowest possible versions each of them could
+                                // represent.
+                                (req_major, req_minor, req_patch.unwrap_or(0))
+                                    >= (major, minor, patch.unwrap_or(0))
+                            })
+                            .unwrap_or(true)
+                        })
+                        .last()
+                        .ok_or_else(|| {
+                            let mut error_msg = format!(
+                                "could not find version of crate `{dependency}` that satisfies \
+                                 this package's rust-version"
+                            );
+
+                            if let Some((lowest, _)) = rust_versions
+                                .iter()
+                                .filter(|(_, v)| v.is_some())
+                                .min_by_key(|(_, v)| v)
+                            {
+                                let lowest_version = lowest.rust_version().unwrap();
+                                error_msg.push_str(&format!(
+                                    "\nnote: the lowest rust-version available for `{dependency}` \
+                                     is {lowest_version}"
+                                ));
+                            }
+
+                            anyhow::anyhow!(error_msg)
+                        })?;
+
+                    if latest_msrv.version() < latest.version() {
+                        config.shell().warn(format_args!(
+                            "selecting older version of `{dependency}` to satisfy this package's \
+                             rust-version"
+                        ))?;
+                        latest = latest_msrv;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
             let mut dep = Dependency::from(latest);
             if let Some(reg_name) = dependency.registry.as_deref() {
                 dep = dep.set_registry(reg_name);
@@ -559,6 +621,21 @@ fn get_latest_dependency(
     }
 }
 
+fn parse_rust_version(rust_version: impl AsRef<str>) -> (u64, u64, Option<u64>) {
+    // HACK: `rust-version` is a subset of the `VersionReq` syntax that only ever has one comparator
+    // with a required minor and optional patch, and uses no other features. If in the future this
+    // syntax is expanded, this code will need to be updated.
+
+    let version = semver::VersionReq::parse(rust_version.as_ref()).unwrap();
+    assert!(version.comparators.len() == 1);
+
+    let version = &version.comparators[0];
+    assert_eq!(version.op, semver::Op::Caret);
+    assert_eq!(version.pre, semver::Prerelease::EMPTY);
+
+    (version.major, version.minor.unwrap(), version.patch)
+}
+
 fn select_package(
     dependency: &Dependency,
     config: &Config,