diff --git a/japicmp/src/main/java/japicmp/versioning/VersionChange.java b/japicmp/src/main/java/japicmp/versioning/VersionChange.java
index 4d0bc6777..636ae0092 100644
--- a/japicmp/src/main/java/japicmp/versioning/VersionChange.java
+++ b/japicmp/src/main/java/japicmp/versioning/VersionChange.java
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ public VersionChange(List<SemanticVersion> oldVersions, List<SemanticVersion> ne
 
 	public Optional<SemanticVersion.ChangeType> computeChangeType() throws JApiCmpException {
 		if (this.oldVersions.isEmpty()) {
-			if (ignoreMissingOldVersion) {
+			if (!ignoreMissingOldVersion) {
 				throw new JApiCmpException(JApiCmpException.Reason.IllegalArgument, "Could not extract semantic version for at least one old version. Please " +
 					"follow the rules for semantic versioning.");
 			} else {
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ public Optional<SemanticVersion.ChangeType> computeChangeType() throws JApiCmpEx
 			}
 		}
 		if (this.newVersions.isEmpty()) {
-			if (ignoreMissingNewVersion) {
+			if (!ignoreMissingNewVersion) {
 				throw new JApiCmpException(JApiCmpException.Reason.IllegalArgument, "Could not extract semantic version for at least one new version. Please " +
 					"follow the rules for semantic versioning.");
 			} else {
diff --git a/japicmp/src/test/java/japicmp/versioning/VersionChangeTest.java b/japicmp/src/test/java/japicmp/versioning/VersionChangeTest.java
index 873dbfb80..40316cd33 100644
--- a/japicmp/src/test/java/japicmp/versioning/VersionChangeTest.java
+++ b/japicmp/src/test/java/japicmp/versioning/VersionChangeTest.java
@@ -74,21 +74,36 @@ public void testTwoVersionsMajorChangeNotAllVersionsTheSameAndDifferentNumberofA
 		fail();
 	}
 
-	@Test
+	@Test(expected = JApiCmpException.class)
 	public void testMissingOldVersion() {
-		VersionChange vc = new VersionChange(Collections.singletonList(new SemanticVersion(1, 2, 3)), Collections.singletonList(new SemanticVersion(1, 2, 3)), true, false);
-		assertThat(vc.computeChangeType().get(), is(SemanticVersion.ChangeType.UNCHANGED));
+		VersionChange vc = new VersionChange(Collections.<SemanticVersion>emptyList(), Collections.singletonList(new SemanticVersion(1, 2, 3)), false, false);
+		vc.computeChangeType();
+		fail();
 	}
 
 	@Test
+	public void testIgnoreMissingOldVersion() {
+		VersionChange vc = new VersionChange(Collections.<SemanticVersion>emptyList(), Collections.singletonList(new SemanticVersion(1, 2, 3)), true, false);
+		assertThat(vc.computeChangeType().isPresent(), is(false));
+	}
+
+	@Test(expected = JApiCmpException.class)
 	public void testMissingNewVersion() {
-		VersionChange vc = new VersionChange(Collections.singletonList(new SemanticVersion(1, 2, 3)), Collections.singletonList(new SemanticVersion(1, 2, 3)), false, true);
-		assertThat(vc.computeChangeType().get(), is(SemanticVersion.ChangeType.UNCHANGED));
+		VersionChange vc = new VersionChange(Collections.singletonList(new SemanticVersion(1, 2, 3)), Collections.<SemanticVersion>emptyList(), false, false);
+		vc.computeChangeType();
+		fail();
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void testNoParameter() {
-		VersionChange vc = new VersionChange(new ArrayList<SemanticVersion>(), new ArrayList<SemanticVersion>(), false, false);
+	public void testIgnoreMissingNewVersion() {
+		VersionChange vc = new VersionChange(Collections.singletonList(new SemanticVersion(1, 2, 3)), Collections.<SemanticVersion>emptyList(), false, true);
 		assertThat(vc.computeChangeType().isPresent(), is(false));
 	}
+
+	@Test(expected = JApiCmpException.class)
+	public void testNoParameter() {
+		VersionChange vc = new VersionChange(Collections.<SemanticVersion>emptyList(), Collections.<SemanticVersion>emptyList(), false, false);
+		vc.computeChangeType();
+		fail();
+	}
 }