diff --git a/bin/Makefile.am b/bin/Makefile.am
index c1913d0274e..65f9ab58c55 100644
--- a/bin/Makefile.am
+++ b/bin/Makefile.am
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ couch-config: couch-config.tpl
 	    -e "s|%package_author_name%|@package_author_name@|g" \
 	    -e "s|%package_name%|@package_name@|g" \
 	    -e "s|%version%|@version@|g" \
+	    -e "s|%erlangversion%|@erlangversion@|g" \
 	    -e "s|%couchdb_command_name%|$(couchdb_command_name)|g" > \
 	$@ < $<
 	chmod +x $@
@@ -118,6 +119,7 @@ couch-config_dev: couch-config.tpl
 	    -e "s|%package_author_name%|@package_author_name@|g" \
 	    -e "s|%package_name%|@package_name@|g" \
 	    -e "s|%version%|@version@|g" \
+	    -e "s|%erlangversion%|@erlangversion@|g" \
 	    -e "s|%couchdb_command_name%|$(abs_top_builddir)/utils/run|g" > \
 	$@ < $<
 	chmod +x $@
diff --git a/bin/couch-config.tpl.in b/bin/couch-config.tpl.in
index 22a886dfa7d..7db9b2a1a67 100644
--- a/bin/couch-config.tpl.in
+++ b/bin/couch-config.tpl.in
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ viewdir="%localstatelibdir%"
 confdir="%localconfdir%"
 urifile="%localstaterundir%/couch.uri"
 logdir="%localstatelogdir%"
+erlangversion="%erlangversion%"
 
 version () {
     cat << EOF
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ Options:
   --log-dir         log directory
   --uri-file        daemon sockets file 
   --couch-version   version of Apache CouchDB
+  --erlang-version  version of Erlang that CouchDB was built with
   --version         version of $basename
   --help            Print usage
 
@@ -108,6 +110,9 @@ do
         --couch-version)
             echo $couchversion
             ;;
+        --erlang-version)
+            echo $erlangversion
+            ;;
         --version)
             version
             exit 0
diff --git a/bin/erlang-version.escript b/bin/erlang-version.escript
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..66aae1c4165
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/erlang-version.escript
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+
+main(_) ->
+  io:format("~s~n", [erlang:system_info(otp_release)]).
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index bb3ef38326b..9b980fb6f57 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ else
 fi
 
 AC_PATH_PROG([ERL], [erl])
+AC_PATH_PROG([ESCRIPT], [escript])
 
 AS_IF([test x${ERL} = x], [
     AC_MSG_ERROR([Could not find the `erl' executable. Is Erlang installed?])
@@ -650,6 +651,9 @@ else
     fi
 fi
 
+ERL_VERSION_COMMAND="${ESCRIPT} bin/erlang-version.escript"
+erlangversion=`${ERL_VERSION_COMMAND}`
+
 AC_ARG_VAR([ERL], [path to the `erl' executable])
 AC_ARG_VAR([ERLC], [path to the `erlc' executable])
 
@@ -688,6 +692,8 @@ AC_SUBST([locallibdir], [${libdir}/${package_identifier}])
 AC_SUBST([localstatelibdir], [${localstatedir}/lib/${package_identifier}])
 AC_SUBST([localstatelogdir], [${localstatedir}/log/${package_identifier}])
 AC_SUBST([localstaterundir], [${localstatedir}/run/${package_identifier}])
+AC_SUBST([erlangversion], [${erlangversion}])
+
 
 # On Windows we install directly into our erlang distribution.
 if test x${IS_WINDOWS} = xTRUE; then
diff --git a/license.skip b/license.skip
index fd7b0402826..f214b0f18b1 100644
--- a/license.skip
+++ b/license.skip
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 ^bin/Makefile.in
 ^bin/couchdb.1
 ^bin/couchjs.1
+^bin/erlang-version.escript
 ^build-aux/.*
 ^config..*
 ^configure