diff --git a/guix/import/crate.scm b/guix/import/crate.scm
index b133529ba7..3bc261b04e 100644
--- a/guix/import/crate.scm
+++ b/guix/import/crate.scm
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ (define-module (guix import crate)
   #:use-module (guix packages)
   #:use-module (guix upstream)
   #:use-module (guix utils)
+  #:use-module (gnu packages)
   #:use-module (ice-9 match)
   #:use-module (ice-9 regex)
   #:use-module (json)
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ (define-json-mapping <crate-dependency> make-crate-dependency
   (requirement   crate-dependency-requirement "req")) ;string
 
 (module-autoload! (current-module)
-		  '(semver) '(string->semver semver<?))
+		  '(semver) '(string->semver semver->string semver<?))
 (module-autoload! (current-module)
 		  '(semver ranges) '(string->semver-range semver-range-contains?))
 
@@ -235,6 +236,21 @@ (define version-number
          (or version
              (crate-latest-version crate))))
 
+  ;; find the highest existing package that fulfills the semver <range>
+  (define (find-package-version name range)
+    (let* ((semver-range (string->semver-range range))
+           (versions
+            (sort
+             (filter (lambda (version)
+                       (semver-range-contains? semver-range version))
+                     (map (lambda (pkg)
+                            (string->semver (package-version pkg)))
+                          (find-packages-by-name
+                           (crate-name->package-name name))))
+             semver<?)))
+      (and (not (null-list? versions))
+           (semver->string (last versions)))))
+
   ;; find the highest version of a crate that fulfills the semver <range>
   (define (find-crate-version crate range)
     (let* ((semver-range (string->semver-range range))
@@ -251,6 +267,17 @@ (define (find-crate-version crate range)
       (and (not (null-list? versions))
            (second (last versions)))))
 
+  (define (dependency-name+version dep)
+    (let* ((name (crate-dependency-id dep))
+           (req (crate-dependency-requirement dep))
+           (existing-version (find-package-version name req)))
+      (if existing-version
+          (list name existing-version)
+          (let* ((crate (lookup-crate* name))
+                 (ver (find-crate-version crate req)))
+            (list name
+                  (crate-version-number ver))))))
+
   (define version*
     (and crate
          (find-crate-version crate version-number)))
@@ -258,13 +285,7 @@ (define version*
   ;; sort and map the dependencies to a list containing
   ;; pairs of (name version)
   (define (sort-map-dependencies deps)
-    (sort (map (lambda (dep)
-                 (let* ((name (crate-dependency-id dep))
-                        (crate (lookup-crate* name))
-                        (req (crate-dependency-requirement dep))
-                        (ver (find-crate-version crate req)))
-                   (list name
-                         (crate-version-number ver))))
+    (sort (map dependency-name+version
                deps)
           (match-lambda* (((name _) ...)
                           (apply string-ci<? name)))))
diff --git a/tests/crate.scm b/tests/crate.scm
index 1506daeadd..a24f734093 100644
--- a/tests/crate.scm
+++ b/tests/crate.scm
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ (define-module (test-crate)
   #:use-module (guix build-system cargo)
   #:use-module (gcrypt hash)
   #:use-module (guix tests)
+  #:use-module (gnu packages)
   #:use-module (ice-9 iconv)
   #:use-module (ice-9 match)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-64))
@@ -312,6 +313,7 @@ (define test-leaf-bob-dependencies
   \"dependencies\": []
 }")
 
+
 (define test-source-hash
   "")
 
@@ -572,4 +574,85 @@ (define-public 'rust-root-1
   '(license:expat license:asl2.0)
   (string->license "MIT/Apache-2.0"))
 
+
+
+(define test-doctool-crate
+  "{
+  \"crate\": {
+    \"max_version\": \"2.2.2\",
+    \"name\": \"leaf-bob\",
+    \"description\": \"summary\",
+    \"homepage\": \"http://example.com\",
+    \"repository\": \"http://example.com\",
+    \"keywords\": [\"dummy\", \"test\"],
+    \"categories\": [\"test\"]
+    \"actual_versions\": [
+      { \"id\": 234280,
+        \"num\": \"2.2.2\",
+        \"license\": \"MIT OR Apache-2.0\",
+        \"links\": {
+          \"dependencies\": \"/api/v1/crates/doctool/2.2.2/dependencies\"
+        }
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}")
+
+;; FIXME: This test depends on some existing packages
+(define test-doctool-dependencies
+  "{
+  \"dependencies\": [
+     {
+       \"crate_id\": \"docopt\",
+       \"kind\": \"normal\",
+       \"req\": \"^0.8.1\"
+     }
+  ]
+}")
+
+
+(test-assert "self-test: rust-docopt 0.8.x is gone, please adjust the test case"
+  (not (null? (find-packages-by-name "rust-docopt" "0.8"))))
+
+(test-assert "cargo-recursive-import-hoors-existing-packages"
+  (mock ((guix http-client) http-fetch
+         (lambda (url . rest)
+           (match url
+             ("https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/doctool"
+              (open-input-string test-doctool-crate))
+             ("https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/doctool/2.2.2/download"
+              (set! test-source-hash
+                    (bytevector->nix-base32-string
+                     (sha256 (string->bytevector "empty file\n" "utf-8"))))
+              (open-input-string "empty file\n"))
+             ("https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/doctool/2.2.2/dependencies"
+              (open-input-string test-doctool-dependencies))
+             (_ (error "Unexpected URL: " url)))))
+        (match (crate-recursive-import "doctool")
+          (((define-public 'rust-doctool-2
+              (package
+                (name "rust-doctool")
+                (version "2.2.2")
+                (source
+                 (origin
+                   (method url-fetch)
+                   (uri (crate-uri "doctool" version))
+                   (file-name
+                    (string-append name "-" version ".tar.gz"))
+                   (sha256
+                    (base32
+                     (?  string? hash)))))
+                (build-system cargo-build-system)
+                (arguments
+                 ('quasiquote (#:cargo-inputs
+                               (("rust-docopt"
+                                 ('unquote 'rust-docopt-0.8))))))
+                (home-page "http://example.com")
+                (synopsis "summary")
+                (description "summary")
+                (license (list license:expat license:asl2.0)))))
+            #t)
+          (x
+           (pk 'fail x #f)))))
+
 (test-end "crate")