diff --git a/include/meson.build b/include/meson.build
index a01cb1709cc96cb06ebb4b9b7b0ca6addd18d0f5..ed9b3619e24577ccc934eff135fb40c9ba773ddc 100644
--- a/include/meson.build
+++ b/include/meson.build
@@ -233,6 +233,7 @@ conf_data.set('XvExtension', build_xv)
 conf_data.set('XvMCExtension', build_xvmc)
 
 conf_data.set('HAVE_SHA1_IN_' + sha1.to_upper(), '1', description: 'Use @0@ SHA1 functions'.format(sha1))
+conf_data.set('HAVE_LIBUNWIND', get_option('libunwind'))
 
 conf_data.set('HAVE_APM', build_apm or build_acpi)
 conf_data.set('HAVE_ACPI', build_acpi)
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 82942bd94bd336c793f0b5811e08a383c2ada6ee..32ce9f04225b2de3332ae9ba52e037d11907d992 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -639,6 +639,10 @@ if host_machine.system() == 'windows'
     common_dep += socket_dep
 endif
 
+if get_option('libunwind')
+    common_dep += dependency('libunwind', required: true)
+endif
+
 glx_inc = include_directories('glx')
 
 top_dir_inc = include_directories('.')
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 0f38fca8e6e33b694f61c56549e541271704a19f..c9b97727b311bb457a7f2e2cde5080e4bd79d37f 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -121,3 +121,6 @@ option('sparkle-feed-url', type: 'string',
         description: 'Feed URL for autoupdating with the Sparkle Framework (default: disabled)')
 option('xpbproxy', type: 'boolean', value: false,
         description: 'Build a standalone X pasteboard proxy')
+
+option('libunwind', type: 'boolean', value: false,
+        description: 'Use libunwind for backtrace reporting')