diff --git a/captum/_utils/common.py b/captum/_utils/common.py
index 6db0727024..1bad602896 100644
--- a/captum/_utils/common.py
+++ b/captum/_utils/common.py
@@ -18,6 +18,27 @@
 from torch.nn import Module
 
 
+def _parse_version(v: str) -> Tuple[int, ...]:
+    """
+    Parse version strings into tuples for comparison.
+
+    Versions should be in the form of "<major>.<minor>.<patch>", "<major>.<minor>",
+    or "<major>". The "dev", "post" and other letter portions of the given version will
+    be ignored.
+
+    Args:
+
+        v (str): A version string.
+
+    Returns:
+        version_tuple (tuple of int): A tuple of integer values to use for version
+            comparison.
+    """
+    v = [n for n in v.split(".") if n.isdigit()]
+    assert v != []
+    return tuple(map(int, v))
+
+
 class ExpansionTypes(Enum):
     repeat = 1
     repeat_interleave = 2
@@ -671,7 +692,7 @@ def _register_backward_hook(
     ):
         return module.register_backward_hook(hook)
 
-    if torch.__version__ >= "1.9":
+    if _parse_version(torch.__version__) >= (1, 9, 0):
         # Only supported for torch >= 1.9
         return module.register_full_backward_hook(hook)
     else:
diff --git a/captum/influence/_core/similarity_influence.py b/captum/influence/_core/similarity_influence.py
index 83cb2966fa..0fd21eedb7 100644
--- a/captum/influence/_core/similarity_influence.py
+++ b/captum/influence/_core/similarity_influence.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def cosine_similarity(test, train, replace_nan=0) -> Tensor:
     test = test.view(test.shape[0], -1)
     train = train.view(train.shape[0], -1)
 
-    if torch.__version__ <= "1.6.0":
+    if common._parse_version(torch.__version__) <= (1, 6, 0):
         test_norm = torch.norm(test, p=None, dim=1, keepdim=True)
         train_norm = torch.norm(train, p=None, dim=1, keepdim=True)
     else:
diff --git a/captum/influence/_utils/common.py b/captum/influence/_utils/common.py
index 131f8964b8..c7b60529c7 100644
--- a/captum/influence/_utils/common.py
+++ b/captum/influence/_utils/common.py
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 
 import torch
 import torch.nn as nn
+from captum._utils.common import _parse_version
 from captum._utils.progress import progress
+
 from torch import Tensor
 from torch.nn import Module
 from torch.utils.data import DataLoader, Dataset
@@ -126,7 +128,7 @@ def _jacobian_loss_wrt_inputs(
             "Must be either 'sum' or 'mean'."
         )
 
-    if torch.__version__ >= "1.8":
+    if _parse_version(torch.__version__) >= (1, 8, 0):
         input_jacobians = torch.autograd.functional.jacobian(
             lambda out: loss_fn(out, targets), out, vectorize=vectorize
         )
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_common.py b/tests/utils/test_common.py
index 5bea797e97..e19c3c26b9 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_common.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_common.py
@@ -3,7 +3,13 @@
 from typing import cast, List, Tuple
 
 import torch
-from captum._utils.common import _reduce_list, _select_targets, _sort_key_list, safe_div
+from captum._utils.common import (
+    _parse_version,
+    _reduce_list,
+    _select_targets,
+    _sort_key_list,
+    safe_div,
+)
 from tests.helpers.basic import assertTensorAlmostEqual, BaseTest
 
 
@@ -109,3 +115,35 @@ def test_select_target_3d(self) -> None:
         # Verify error is raised if too many dimensions are provided.
         with self.assertRaises(AssertionError):
             _select_targets(output_tensor, (1, 2, 3))
+
+
+class TestParseVersion(BaseTest):
+    def test_parse_version_dev(self) -> None:
+        version_str = "1.12.0.dev20201109"
+        output = _parse_version(version_str)
+        self.assertEqual(output, (1, 12, 0))
+
+    def test_parse_version_post(self) -> None:
+        version_str = "1.3.0.post2"
+        output = _parse_version(version_str)
+        self.assertEqual(output, (1, 3, 0))
+
+    def test_parse_version_1_12_0(self) -> None:
+        version_str = "1.12.0"
+        output = _parse_version(version_str)
+        self.assertEqual(output, (1, 12, 0))
+
+    def test_parse_version_1_12_2(self) -> None:
+        version_str = "1.12.2"
+        output = _parse_version(version_str)
+        self.assertEqual(output, (1, 12, 2))
+
+    def test_parse_version_1_6_0(self) -> None:
+        version_str = "1.6.0"
+        output = _parse_version(version_str)
+        self.assertEqual(output, (1, 6, 0))
+
+    def test_parse_version_1_12(self) -> None:
+        version_str = "1.12"
+        output = _parse_version(version_str)
+        self.assertEqual(output, (1, 12))