diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb b/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
index 2841618538..2d25d248b7 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
@@ -205,6 +205,12 @@ class Formula
         onoe e.inspect
         puts e.backtrace
         ohai "Rescuing build..."
+        if (e.was_running_configure? rescue false) and File.exist? 'config.log'
+          puts "It looks like an autotools configure failed."
+          puts "Gist 'config.log' and any error output when reporting an issue."
+          puts
+        end
+
         puts "When you exit this shell Homebrew will attempt to finalise the installation."
         puts "If nothing is installed or the shell exits with a non-zero error code,"
         puts "Homebrew will abort. The installation prefix is:"
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/global.rb b/Library/Homebrew/global.rb
index cb889bbb31..06cca3859c 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/global.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/global.rb
@@ -44,13 +44,18 @@ RECOMMENDED_GCC_42 = (MACOS_VERSION >= 10.6) ? 5646 : 5577
 
 
 class ExecutionError <RuntimeError
-  attr :exit_status
+  attr :exit_status, :command
 
   def initialize cmd, args = [], es = nil
+    @command = cmd
     super "Failure while executing: #{cmd} #{pretty(args)*' '}"
     @exit_status = es.exitstatus rescue 1
   end
 
+  def was_running_configure?
+    @command == './configure'
+  end
+
   private
 
   def pretty args
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/configure_fails.tar.gz b/Library/Homebrew/test/configure_fails.tar.gz
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..8be00ee467
Binary files /dev/null and b/Library/Homebrew/test/configure_fails.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_formula_install.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_formula_install.rb
index eb2dcb4919..db1a2b1032 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_formula_install.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_formula_install.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,18 @@ class TestScriptFileFormula <ScriptFileFormula
 end
 
 
+class ConfigureTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def test_detect_failed_configure
+    f=ConfigureFails.new
+    begin
+      f.brew { f.install }
+    rescue ExecutionError => e
+      assert e.was_running_configure?
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+
 class InstallTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def temporary_install f
     # Brew and install the given formula
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/testball.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/testball.rb
index 6393342e59..58af9d2b74 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/testball.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/testball.rb
@@ -12,3 +12,18 @@ class TestBall <Formula
     prefix.install "libexec"
   end
 end
+
+class ConfigureFails <Formula
+  # name parameter required for some Formula::factory
+  def initialize name=nil
+    @url="file:///#{TEST_FOLDER}/configure_fails.tar.gz"
+    @homepage = 'http://example.com/'
+    @version = '1.0.0'
+    @md5 = '9385e1b68ab8af68ac2c35423443159b'
+    super "configurefails"
+  end
+
+  def install
+    system "./configure"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/testing_env.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/testing_env.rb
index 0f243607e6..dbe3d16878 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/testing_env.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/testing_env.rb
@@ -26,15 +26,21 @@ at_exit { HOMEBREW_PREFIX.parent.rmtree }
 # Test fixtures and files can be found relative to this path
 TEST_FOLDER = Pathname.new(ABS__FILE__).parent.realpath
 
-
+# Note: These exceptions duplicate those defined in globals.
+# Perhaps the same definitions should be used in both places.
 class ExecutionError <RuntimeError
-  attr :exit_status
+  attr :exit_status, :command
 
   def initialize cmd, args = [], es = nil
+    @command = cmd
     super "Failure while executing: #{cmd} #{pretty(args)*' '}"
     @exit_status = es.exitstatus rescue 1
   end
 
+  def was_running_configure?
+    @command == './configure'
+  end
+
   private
 
   def pretty args
@@ -49,6 +55,12 @@ class ExecutionError <RuntimeError
 end
 
 class BuildError <ExecutionError
+  attr :env
+
+  def initialize cmd, args = [], es = nil
+    super
+    @env = ENV.to_hash
+  end
 end
 
 require 'test/unit' # must be after at_exit
diff --git a/bin/brew b/bin/brew
index 95b0772510..1c1f2d29a7 100755
--- a/bin/brew
+++ b/bin/brew
@@ -434,6 +434,13 @@ rescue BuildError => e
   # then replace that string with the following when the github api returns
   issues = issues_for_formula(formula_name)
   puts "These existing issues may help you:", *issues unless issues.empty?
+  if e.was_running_configure?
+    puts "It looks like an autotools configure failed."
+    puts "Consider re-running the install with '-vd' to keep 'config.log' around:"
+    puts "    brew install -vd formula_name"
+    puts "Gist 'config.log' and any error output when reporting an issue."
+  end
+  puts
   puts "Consider running `brew doctor` if a large number of installs are failing."
   exit 1
 rescue RuntimeError, SystemCallError => e