diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb b/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
index 2802132655..2370426620 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
@@ -216,6 +216,21 @@ class Formula
     active_spec == head
   end
 
+  # @private
+  def bottle_unneeded?
+    active_spec.bottle_unneeded?
+  end
+
+  # @private
+  def bottle_disabled?
+    active_spec.bottle_disabled?
+  end
+
+  # @private
+  def bottle_disable_reason
+    active_spec.bottle_disable_reason
+  end
+
   # @private
   def bottled?
     active_spec.bottled?
@@ -1592,8 +1607,14 @@ class Formula
     #   sha256 "53c234e5e8472b6ac51c1ae1cab3fe06fad053beb8ebfd8977b010655bfdd3c3" => :mavericks
     #   sha256 "1121cfccd5913f0a63fec40a6ffd44ea64f9dc135c66634ba001d10bcf4302a2" => :mountain_lion
     # end</pre>
-    def bottle(*, &block)
-      stable.bottle(&block)
+    #
+    # For formulae which don't require compiling, you can tag them with:
+    # <pre>bottle :unneeded</pre>
+    #
+    # To disable bottle for other reasons.
+    # <pre>bottle :disable, "reasons"</pre>
+    def bottle(*args, &block)
+      stable.bottle(*args, &block)
     end
 
     # @private
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/formula_support.rb b/Library/Homebrew/formula_support.rb
index 2430c31b09..c76ed39f3c 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/formula_support.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/formula_support.rb
@@ -55,3 +55,23 @@ EOS
     end.strip
   end
 end
+
+# Used to annotate formulae that don't require compiling or cannot build bottle.
+class BottleDisableReason
+  def initialize(type, reason)
+    @type = type
+    @reason = reason
+  end
+
+  def unneeded?
+    @type == :unneeded
+  end
+
+  def to_s
+    if @type == :unneeded
+      "This formula doesn't require compiling."
+    else
+      @reason
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/software_spec.rb b/Library/Homebrew/software_spec.rb
index e8148322e3..d2c811b69f 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/software_spec.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/software_spec.rb
@@ -63,13 +63,29 @@ class SoftwareSpec
     dependency_collector.add(@resource)
   end
 
+  def bottle_unneeded?
+    !!@bottle_disable_reason && @bottle_disable_reason.unneeded?
+  end
+
+  def bottle_disabled?
+    !!@bottle_disable_reason
+  end
+
+  def bottle_disable_reason
+    @bottle_disable_reason
+  end
+
   def bottled?
     bottle_specification.tag?(bottle_tag) && \
       (bottle_specification.compatible_cellar? || ARGV.force_bottle?)
   end
 
-  def bottle(&block)
-    bottle_specification.instance_eval(&block)
+  def bottle(disable_type = nil, disable_reason = nil,  &block)
+    if disable_type
+      @bottle_disable_reason = BottleDisableReason.new(disable_type, disable_reason)
+    else
+      bottle_specification.instance_eval(&block)
+    end
   end
 
   def resource_defined?(name)