diff --git a/compiler/cc.v b/compiler/cc.v
index 750535059b..c0f89a17f4 100644
--- a/compiler/cc.v
+++ b/compiler/cc.v
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ fn (v mut V) cc() {
 	else {
 		a << '-g'
 	}
+
+	if v.pref.is_debug {
+		a << ' -rdynamic ' // needed for nicer symbolic backtraces
+	}
+
 	if v.os != .msvc && v.os != .freebsd {
 		a << '-Werror=implicit-function-declaration'
 	}
diff --git a/compiler/cheaders.v b/compiler/cheaders.v
index 001625519b..0d1a542d7c 100644
--- a/compiler/cheaders.v
+++ b/compiler/cheaders.v
@@ -21,6 +21,15 @@ CommonCHeaders = '
 #include <execinfo.h> // backtrace and backtrace_symbols_fd
 #endif
 
+#ifdef __linux__
+#include <execinfo.h> // backtrace and backtrace_symbols_fd
+#endif
+
+#ifdef __linux__
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h> // os__wait uses wait on nix
+#endif
+
 
 #define EMPTY_STRUCT_DECLARATION
 #define OPTION_CAST(x) (x)
diff --git a/vlib/builtin/builtin.v b/vlib/builtin/builtin.v
index a035f4e963..aa6dd4b2b5 100644
--- a/vlib/builtin/builtin.v
+++ b/vlib/builtin/builtin.v
@@ -17,15 +17,28 @@ fn on_panic(f fn (int) int) {
 	// TODO
 }
 
-pub fn print_backtrace() {
-	if true {
-		return // TODO
-	}
+pub fn print_backtrace_skipping_top_frames(skipframes int) {
 	$if mac {
 		buffer := [100]voidptr
 		nr_ptrs := C.backtrace(buffer, 100)
-		C.backtrace_symbols_fd(buffer, nr_ptrs, 1)
+		C.backtrace_symbols_fd(&buffer[skipframes], nr_ptrs-skipframes, 1)
+		return
 	}
+	$if linux {
+		buffer := [100]voidptr
+		nr_ptrs := C.backtrace(buffer, 100)
+		C.backtrace_symbols_fd(&buffer[skipframes], nr_ptrs-skipframes, 1)
+		return
+	}
+	C.printf('print_backtrace_skipping_top_frames is not implemented on this platform for now...\n')
+}
+pub fn print_backtrace(){
+	// at the time of backtrace_symbols_fd call, the C stack would look something like this:
+	// 1 frame for print_backtrace_skipping_top_frames
+	// 1 frame for print_backtrace itself
+	// ... print the rest of the backtrace frames ...
+	// => top 2 frames should be skipped, since they will not be informative to the developer
+	print_backtrace_skipping_top_frames(2)
 }
 
 // replaces panic when -debug arg is passed
@@ -37,7 +50,7 @@ fn _panic_debug(line_no int, file,  mod, fn_name, s string) {
 	println('     line: ' + line_no.str())
 	println('  message: $s')
 	println('=========================================')
-	print_backtrace()
+	print_backtrace_skipping_top_frames(1)
 	C.exit(1)
 }