diff --git a/stepmania/autoconf/m4/backtrace.m4 b/stepmania/autoconf/m4/backtrace.m4
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c2aa80adb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stepmania/autoconf/m4/backtrace.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+# See if we have a system backtrace().
+AC_DEFUN(SM_FUNC_BACKTRACE,
+[
+    AC_MSG_CHECKING(for working backtrace)
+    AC_TRY_RUN(
+    [
+	    #include <execinfo.h>
+	    int main()
+	    {
+		    void *BacktracePointers[128];
+		    return backtrace (BacktracePointers, 128) <= 0? 1:0;
+	    }
+    ], have_sys_backtrace=yes,have_sys_backtrace=no,have_sys_backtrace=no
+    )
+    AC_MSG_RESULT($have_sys_backtrace)
+])
+
+
+# See if we have a working backtrace_symbols.
+AC_DEFUN(SM_FUNC_BACKTRACE_SYMBOLS,
+[
+    AC_MSG_CHECKING(for working backtrace_symbols())
+    AC_TRY_RUN(
+    [
+	    #include <execinfo.h>
+	    int main()
+	    {
+		    void *BacktracePointer=main;
+		    return backtrace_symbols (&BacktracePointer, 1) == 0? 1:0;
+	    }
+    ], have_backtrace_symbols=yes,have_backtrace_symbols=no,have_backtrace_symbols=no
+    )
+    AC_MSG_RESULT($have_backtrace_symbols)
+])
+
+
+# To support backtraces in the crash handler, we need two things: a call to
+# get backtrace pointers, and a way to convert them to symbols.
+AC_DEFUN(SM_CHECK_CRASH_HANDLER,
+[
+    # See if we have a custom backtrace():
+    case $host in
+	*86-pc-linux*)
+	    AC_DEFINE([BACKTRACE_METHOD],[X86_LINUX],[Define backtrace type])
+	    have_backtrace=yes
+	    ;;
+    esac
+
+
+    if test "$have_backtrace" != "yes"; then
+	    # See if we have a system backtrace():
+	    SM_FUNC_BACKTRACE
+
+	    if test "$have_sys_backtrace" = "yes"; then
+		    AC_DEFINE([BACKTRACE_METHOD],[BACKTRACE],[Define backtrace type])
+		    have_backtrace=yes
+	    fi
+    fi
+
+    # Do we have a libdl with dladdr?
+    AC_SEARCH_LIBS(dladdr, [dl],
+		   [AC_DEFINE([BACKTRACE_LOOKUP_METHOD],[DLADDR],[Define symbol lookup type])
+		   have_symbol_lookup=yes])
+
+    if test "$have_symbol_lookup" != "yes"; then
+	    SM_FUNC_BACKTRACE_SYMBOLS
+
+	    if test "$have_backtrace_symbols" = "yes"; then
+		    AC_DEFINE([BACKTRACE_LOOKUP_METHOD],[BACKTRACE_SYMBOLS],[Define symbol lookup type])
+		    have_symbol_lookup=yes
+	    fi
+    fi
+
+
+    AC_MSG_CHECKING(for crash handler components)
+    if test "$have_backtrace" = "yes" -a "$have_symbol_lookup" = "yes"; then
+	    use_crash_handler=yes
+	    AC_MSG_RESULT(ok)
+    else
+	    AC_MSG_RESULT(incomplete; crash handler will not be used)
+    fi
+
+    if test "$use_crash_handler" = "yes"; then
+	    # All current symbol lookup methods need this flag.
+	    LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS -rdynamic"
+
+	    # Check for libiberty.  This makes backtraces much nicer.
+	    AC_CHECK_HEADER(libiberty.h, have_iberty_header=yes, have_iberty_header=no)
+	    AC_SEARCH_LIBS(cplus_demangle, [iberty], have_iberty_lib=yes, have_iberty_lib=no)
+
+	    if test $have_iberty_lib = "yes" -a $have_iberty_header = "yes"; then
+		    AC_DEFINE(HAVE_LIBIBERTY, 1, [Liberty available])
+	    else
+		    echo
+		    echo "*** Backtrace support has been detected, but libiberty is not installed."
+		    echo "*** Libiberty will make crash reports for developers much easier to read,"
+		    echo "*** and is strongly recommended."
+		    echo
+	    fi
+    fi
+])
+
diff --git a/stepmania/configure.ac b/stepmania/configure.ac
index 4bc8ecd6d5..1d7cd8702b 100644
--- a/stepmania/configure.ac
+++ b/stepmania/configure.ac
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ AC_SEARCH_LIBS(mad_synth_init, [mad], have_mad=yes,  have_mad=no)
 #  exit 0;
 #fi
 
+SM_CHECK_CRASH_HANDLER
 
 AM_PATH_ALSA(0.9.0,AC_DEFINE([HAVE_ALSA],1,[Define presence of ALSA]),alsa=false)
 
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ AC_CHECK_HEADER(linux/soundcard.h, [AC_DEFINE(HAVE_OSS, 1, [OSS support availabl
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_ALSA, test x$alsa != xfalse )
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_GTK, test "$enable_gtk2" != "no" )
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_OSS, test x$ac_cv_header_linux_soundcard_h = xyes )
+AM_CONDITIONAL(USE_CRASH_HANDLER, test "$use_crash_handler" = "yes" )
 
 # We could do this more cleanly with an AC_CHECK_FUNCS wrapper.
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([powf sqrtf sinf tanf cosf acosf roundf truncf])