diff --git a/lib/manager/components/version/FeedVersionActionsMTC.js b/lib/manager/components/version/FeedVersionActionsMTC.js
index 9f8ea0088..b34e50be7 100644
--- a/lib/manager/components/version/FeedVersionActionsMTC.js
+++ b/lib/manager/components/version/FeedVersionActionsMTC.js
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import { Link } from 'react-router'
 import { connect } from 'react-redux'
 
 import * as versionsActions from '../../actions/versions'
-import { BLOCKING_ERROR_TYPES } from '../../util/version'
 import type { Feed, FeedVersion, FeedVersionSummary, GtfsPlusValidation, ServerJob } from '../../../types'
 import type { ManagerUserState } from '../../../types/reducers'
 
@@ -62,18 +61,6 @@ function userCanManageFeed (user: ManagerUserState, version: FeedVersion): boole
     ) !== null
 }
 
-/**
-  * Check that the validation did not encounter any fatal exception or blocking
-  * errors.
-  */
-function checkBlockingIssue (version: FeedVersion): boolean {
-  if (!version.validationResult) return false
-  if (version.validationResult.fatalException) return true
-  const errorCounts = version.validationResult.error_counts
-  return !!errorCounts &&
-    !!(errorCounts.find(ec => BLOCKING_ERROR_TYPES.indexOf(ec.type) !== -1))
-}
-
 class FeedVersionActionsMTC extends Component<Props> {
   _handleMergeVersion: ((versionId: string) => void) = (versionId: string) => {
     // Note: service period feed merge has only been extensively tested with
@@ -83,67 +70,74 @@ class FeedVersionActionsMTC extends Component<Props> {
 
   _onClickPublish: (() => any) = () => this.props.publishFeedVersion(this.props.version)
 
-  // eslint-disable-next-line complexity
-  render (): React$Element<"div"> {
+  _getWarning = () => {
     const {
       feedSource,
       gtfsPlusValidation,
-      jobs,
-      user,
       version
     } = this.props
-    const {validationSummary: summary} = version
-    // We must check the version ID against the feed source in props (not the
-    // feed source nested underneath version) because this is the only place the
-    // published version is updated.
-    const isPublished = version.namespace === feedSource.publishedVersionId
-    // Version is in the "processing" state if it has been sent to external
-    // source, but has not been processed yet.
-    const processing = version.sentToExternalPublisher &&
-      !version.processedByExternalPublisher
-    const hasBlockingIssue = checkBlockingIssue(version)
+    const { autoPublish, feedVersionSummaries: summaries, id } = feedSource
+
+    // Use version summaries from FeedSource to get the publish status returned by backend.
+    if (!summaries) return ''
+    const versionSummary = summaries.find(v => v.id === version.id)
+
+    const { publishState = '', validationSummary: summary } = versionSummary || {}
+
     const hasGtfsPlusBlockingIssue = gtfsPlusValidation && gtfsPlusValidation.issues.length > 0
-    const isMergedServicePeriods = version.retrievalMethod === 'SERVICE_PERIOD_MERGE'
 
-    // Expiry is computed same as with VersionDateLabel (TODO: refactor and reconcile with versionHasExpired).
+    // Expiry is computed same as in backend using FeedValidationSummary.startDate/endDate.
     const now = +moment().startOf('day')
     const end = +moment(summary.endDate)
+    const start = +moment(summary.startDate)
     const expired = end < now
-
-    const jobsProcessingThisVersion = jobs && jobs.some(job => job.feedVersionId === version.id)
-
-    const publishButtonDisabled = !gtfsPlusValidation ||
-      hasGtfsPlusBlockingIssue ||
-      !gtfsPlusValidation.published ||
-      expired ||
-      !version.validationResult ||
-      !version.validationResult.error_counts ||
-      hasBlockingIssue ||
-      isPublished ||
-      processing ||
-      !userCanManageFeed(user, version) ||
-      jobsProcessingThisVersion
-
-    let publishWarningMessage
-    if (hasBlockingIssue || hasGtfsPlusBlockingIssue) {
-      publishWarningMessage = (
+    const future = start > now
+
+    if (expired) {
+      return 'Cannot publish version because it has expired.'
+    } else if (future) {
+      return 'Cannot publish version because it is in the future.'
+    } else if (publishState === 'PUBLISH_BLOCKED') {
+      return (
         <span>
           Cannot publish version because it has a{' '}
           {hasGtfsPlusBlockingIssue ? 'GTFS+ ' : ''}
           blocking issue.
           (See{' '}
           <Link
-            to={`/feed/${feedSource.id}/version/${version.version}/${hasGtfsPlusBlockingIssue ? 'gtfsplus' : 'issues'}`}
+            to={`/feed/${id}/version/${version.version}/${hasGtfsPlusBlockingIssue ? 'gtfsplus' : 'issues'}`}
           >
             {hasGtfsPlusBlockingIssue ? 'GTFS+' : 'validation'} issues
           </Link>.)
         </span>
       )
-    } else if (expired) {
-      publishWarningMessage = 'Cannot publish version because it has expired.'
-    } else if (feedSource.autoPublish) {
-      publishWarningMessage = 'Reminder: this feed is already set to be auto-published after auto-fetch!'
+    } else if (autoPublish) {
+      return 'Reminder: this feed is already set to be auto-published after auto-fetch!'
     }
+  }
+
+  render (): React$Element<"div"> {
+    const {
+      feedSource,
+      jobs,
+      user,
+      version
+    } = this.props
+    const { feedVersionSummaries: summaries } = feedSource
+
+    // Use version summaries from FeedSource to get the publish status returned by backend.
+    const versionSummary = summaries && summaries.find(v => v.id === version.id)
+
+    const { publishState = '' } = versionSummary || {}
+    const isPublished = publishState === 'PUBLISHED'
+    const processing = publishState === 'PUBLISHING'
+    const isMergedServicePeriods = version.retrievalMethod === 'SERVICE_PERIOD_MERGE'
+
+    const jobsProcessingThisVersion = jobs && jobs.some(job => job.feedVersionId === version.id)
+
+    const publishButtonDisabled = publishState !== 'READY_TO_PUBLISH' ||
+      !userCanManageFeed(user, version) ||
+      jobsProcessingThisVersion
 
     return (
       <div>
@@ -161,7 +155,7 @@ class FeedVersionActionsMTC extends Component<Props> {
                 : 'Merge with version'
               }</span>}
             version={version}
-            versions={feedSource.feedVersionSummaries}
+            versions={summaries}
           />
           <Button
             bsStyle={isPublished ? 'success' : 'warning'}
@@ -186,7 +180,7 @@ class FeedVersionActionsMTC extends Component<Props> {
             width: '180px'
           }}
         >
-          {publishWarningMessage}
+          {this._getWarning()}
         </div>
       </div>
     )
diff --git a/lib/types/index.js b/lib/types/index.js
index 1c1ef3693..8d78f78f3 100644
--- a/lib/types/index.js
+++ b/lib/types/index.js
@@ -547,6 +547,7 @@ export type FeedVersionSummary = {
   name: string,
   namespace: string,
   originNamespace: ?string,
+  publishState?: 'PUBLISHED' | 'PUBLISHING' | 'PUBLISH_BLOCKED' | 'READY_TO_PUBLISH',
   retrievalMethod: ?RetrievalMethod,
   updated: number,
   // HACK: validationSummary is fully populated in FeedVersion.