diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index f2b07c927e..bd2d483698 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -175,8 +175,8 @@ lazy val catsJVM = project.in(file(".catsJVM"))
   .settings(moduleName := "cats")
   .settings(catsSettings)
   .settings(commonJvmSettings)
-  .aggregate(macrosJVM, kernelJVM, kernelLawsJVM, coreJVM, lawsJVM, freeJVM, testsJVM, docs, bench)
-  .dependsOn(macrosJVM, kernelJVM, kernelLawsJVM, coreJVM, lawsJVM, freeJVM, testsJVM % "test-internal -> test", bench % "compile-internal;test-internal -> test")
+  .aggregate(macrosJVM, kernelJVM, kernelLawsJVM, coreJVM, lawsJVM, freeJVM, testsJVM, jvm, docs, bench)
+  .dependsOn(macrosJVM, kernelJVM, kernelLawsJVM, coreJVM, lawsJVM, freeJVM, testsJVM % "test-internal -> test", jvm, bench % "compile-internal;test-internal -> test")
 
 lazy val catsJS = project.in(file(".catsJS"))
   .settings(moduleName := "cats")
@@ -290,6 +290,13 @@ lazy val js = project
   .settings(commonJsSettings:_*)
   .enablePlugins(ScalaJSPlugin)
 
+// cats-jvm is JVM-only
+lazy val jvm = project
+  .dependsOn(macrosJVM, coreJVM, testsJVM % "test-internal -> test")
+  .settings(moduleName := "cats-jvm")
+  .settings(catsSettings:_*)
+  .settings(commonJvmSettings:_*)
+
 lazy val publishSettings = Seq(
   homepage := Some(url("https://github.com/typelevel/cats")),
   licenses := Seq("MIT" -> url("http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT")),
@@ -358,7 +365,7 @@ lazy val publishSettings = Seq(
 ) ++ credentialSettings ++ sharedPublishSettings ++ sharedReleaseProcess
 
 // These aliases serialise the build for the benefit of Travis-CI.
-addCommandAlias("buildJVM", ";macrosJVM/compile;coreJVM/compile;kernelLawsJVM/compile;lawsJVM/compile;freeJVM/compile;kernelLawsJVM/test;coreJVM/test;testsJVM/test;freeJVM/test;bench/test")
+addCommandAlias("buildJVM", ";macrosJVM/compile;coreJVM/compile;kernelLawsJVM/compile;lawsJVM/compile;freeJVM/compile;kernelLawsJVM/test;coreJVM/test;testsJVM/test;freeJVM/test;jvm/test;bench/test")
 
 addCommandAlias("validateJVM", ";scalastyle;buildJVM;makeSite")
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/cats/instances/future.scala b/core/src/main/scala/cats/instances/future.scala
index ba2490ee01..a7d444acf1 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/cats/instances/future.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/cats/instances/future.scala
@@ -8,12 +8,22 @@ import scala.concurrent.{ExecutionContext, Future}
 
 trait FutureInstances extends FutureInstances1 {
 
-  implicit def catsStdInstancesForFuture(implicit ec: ExecutionContext): MonadError[Future, Throwable] with CoflatMap[Future] =
-    new FutureCoflatMap with MonadError[Future, Throwable]{
+  implicit def catsStdInstancesForFuture(implicit ec: ExecutionContext): MonadError[Future, Throwable] with CoflatMap[Future] with MonadRec[Future] =
+    new FutureCoflatMap with MonadError[Future, Throwable] with MonadRec[Future] {
       def pure[A](x: A): Future[A] = Future.successful(x)
 
       def flatMap[A, B](fa: Future[A])(f: A => Future[B]): Future[B] = fa.flatMap(f)
 
+      /**
+       * Note that while this implementation will not compile with `@tailrec`,
+       * it is in fact stack-safe.
+       */
+      final def tailRecM[B, C](b: B)(f: B => Future[(B Xor C)]): Future[C] =
+        f(b).flatMap {
+          case Xor.Left(b1) => tailRecM(b1)(f)
+          case Xor.Right(c) => Future.successful(c)
+        }
+
       def handleErrorWith[A](fea: Future[A])(f: Throwable => Future[A]): Future[A] = fea.recoverWith { case t => f(t) }
 
       def raiseError[A](e: Throwable): Future[A] = Future.failed(e)
diff --git a/js/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala b/js/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
index f007a0c353..c257a67dc8 100644
--- a/js/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
+++ b/js/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
@@ -47,4 +47,5 @@ class FutureTests extends CatsSuite {
 
   checkAll("Future[Int]", MonadErrorTests[Future, Throwable].monadError[Int, Int, Int])
   checkAll("Future[Int]", ComonadTests[Future].comonad[Int, Int, Int])
+  checkAll("Future", MonadRecTests[Future].monadRec[Int, Int, Int])
 }
diff --git a/jvm/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala b/jvm/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fd478ad4c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jvm/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+package cats
+package jvm
+package tests
+
+import cats.data.Xor
+import cats.laws.discipline._
+import cats.tests.CatsSuite
+
+import scala.concurrent.{Await, Future}
+import scala.concurrent.duration._
+import scala.concurrent.ExecutionContext.Implicits.global
+
+import org.scalacheck.Arbitrary
+import org.scalacheck.Arbitrary.arbitrary
+
+class FutureTests extends CatsSuite {
+  val timeout = 3.seconds
+
+  def futureXor[A](f: Future[A]): Future[Xor[Throwable, A]] =
+    f.map(Xor.right[Throwable, A]).recover { case t => Xor.left(t) }
+
+  implicit def eqfa[A: Eq]: Eq[Future[A]] =
+    new Eq[Future[A]] {
+      def eqv(fx: Future[A], fy: Future[A]): Boolean = {
+        val fz = futureXor(fx) zip futureXor(fy)
+        Await.result(fz.map { case (tx, ty) => tx === ty }, timeout)
+      }
+    }
+
+  implicit val throwableEq: Eq[Throwable] =
+    Eq.fromUniversalEquals
+
+  // Need non-fatal Throwables for Future recoverWith/handleError
+  implicit val nonFatalArbitrary: Arbitrary[Throwable] =
+    Arbitrary(arbitrary[Exception].map(identity))
+
+  checkAll("Future with Throwable", MonadErrorTests[Future, Throwable].monadError[Int, Int, Int])
+  checkAll("Future", MonadRecTests[Future].monadRec[Int, Int, Int])
+}