diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/build.rb b/Library/Homebrew/build.rb
index ac60221d94..9d25c9a865 100755
--- a/Library/Homebrew/build.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/build.rb
@@ -170,7 +170,8 @@ class Build
 
         begin
           f.install
-          Tab.create(f, Options.coerce(ARGV.options_only)).write
+          Tab.create(f, ENV.compiler,
+            Options.coerce(ARGV.options_only)).write
         rescue Exception => e
           if ARGV.debug?
             debrew e, f
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cxxstdlib.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cxxstdlib.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4e3bed22e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cxxstdlib.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+class CxxStdlib
+  attr_accessor :type, :compiler
+
+  def initialize(type, compiler)
+    if ![:libstdcxx, :libcxx].include? type
+      raise ArgumentError, "Invalid C++ stdlib type: #{type}"
+    end
+
+    @type     = type.to_sym
+    @compiler = compiler.to_sym
+  end
+
+  def apple_compiler?
+    not compiler.to_s =~ SharedEnvExtension::GNU_GCC_REGEXP
+  end
+
+  def compatible_with?(other)
+    # libstdc++ and libc++ aren't ever intercompatible
+    return false unless type == other.type
+
+    # libstdc++ is compatible across Apple compilers, but
+    # not between Apple and GNU compilers, or between GNU compiler versions
+    return false if apple_compiler? && !other.apple_compiler?
+    if compiler.to_s =~ SharedEnvExtension::GNU_GCC_REGEXP
+      return false unless other.compiler.to_s =~ SharedEnvExtension::GNU_GCC_REGEXP
+      return false unless compiler.to_s[4..6] == other.compiler.to_s[4..6]
+    end
+
+    true
+  end
+
+  def check_dependencies(formula, deps)
+    deps.each do |dep|
+      dep_stdlib = Tab.for_formula(dep.to_formula).cxxstdlib
+      if !compatible_with? dep_stdlib
+        raise IncompatibleCxxStdlibs.new(formula, dep, dep_stdlib, self)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  def type_string
+    type.to_s.gsub(/cxx$/, 'c++')
+  end
+end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/tab.rb b/Library/Homebrew/tab.rb
index a55df156d5..9b19e95102 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/tab.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/tab.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+require 'cxxstdlib'
 require 'ostruct'
 require 'options'
 require 'utils/json'
@@ -9,7 +10,7 @@ require 'utils/json'
 class Tab < OpenStruct
   FILENAME = 'INSTALL_RECEIPT.json'
 
-  def self.create f, args
+  def self.create f, stdlib, compiler, args
     f.build.args = args
 
     sha = HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY.cd do
@@ -23,7 +24,9 @@ class Tab < OpenStruct
             :poured_from_bottle => false,
             :tapped_from => f.tap,
             :time => Time.now.to_i, # to_s would be better but Ruby has no from_s function :P
-            :HEAD => sha
+            :HEAD => sha,
+            :compiler => compiler,
+            :stdlib => stdlib
   end
 
   def self.from_file path
@@ -59,7 +62,9 @@ class Tab < OpenStruct
             :poured_from_bottle => false,
             :tapped_from => "",
             :time => nil,
-            :HEAD => nil
+            :HEAD => nil,
+            :stdlib => :libstdcxx,
+            :compiler => :clang
   end
 
   def with? name
@@ -92,6 +97,13 @@ class Tab < OpenStruct
     used_options + unused_options
   end
 
+  def cxxstdlib
+    # Older tabs won't have these values, so provide sensible defaults
+    lib = stdlib || :libstdcxx
+    cc = compiler || MacOS.default_compiler
+    CxxStdlib.new(lib.to_sym, cc.to_sym)
+  end
+
   def to_json
     Utils::JSON.dump({
       :used_options => used_options.map(&:to_s),
@@ -100,7 +112,9 @@ class Tab < OpenStruct
       :poured_from_bottle => poured_from_bottle,
       :tapped_from => tapped_from,
       :time => time,
-      :HEAD => send("HEAD")})
+      :HEAD => send("HEAD"),
+      :stdlib => (stdlib.to_s if stdlib),
+      :compiler => (compiler.to_s if compiler)})
   end
 
   def write
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_stdlib.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_stdlib.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a5e276746c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_stdlib.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+require 'testing_env'
+require 'test/testball'
+require 'formula'
+require 'cxxstdlib'
+require 'tab'
+
+class CxxStdlibTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def setup
+    @clang = CxxStdlib.new(:libstdcxx, :clang)
+    @gcc   = CxxStdlib.new(:libstdcxx, :gcc)
+    @llvm  = CxxStdlib.new(:libstdcxx, :llvm)
+    @gcc4  = CxxStdlib.new(:libstdcxx, :gcc_4_0)
+    @gcc48 = CxxStdlib.new(:libstdcxx, 'gcc-4.8')
+    @gcc49 = CxxStdlib.new(:libstdcxx, 'gcc-4.9')
+    @lcxx  = CxxStdlib.new(:libcxx, :clang)
+  end
+
+  def test_apple_libstdcxx_intercompatibility
+    assert @clang.compatible_with?(@gcc)
+    assert @clang.compatible_with?(@llvm)
+    assert @clang.compatible_with?(@gcc4)
+  end
+
+  def test_compatibility_same_compilers_and_type
+    assert @gcc48.compatible_with?(@gcc48)
+    assert @clang.compatible_with?(@clang)
+  end
+
+  def test_apple_gnu_libstdcxx_incompatibility
+    assert !@clang.compatible_with?(@gcc48)
+    assert !@gcc48.compatible_with?(@clang)
+  end
+
+  def test_gnu_cross_version_incompatibility
+    assert !@clang.compatible_with?(@gcc48)
+    assert !@gcc48.compatible_with?(@clang)
+  end
+
+  def test_libstdcxx_libcxx_incompatibility
+    assert !@clang.compatible_with?(@lcxx)
+    assert !@lcxx.compatible_with?(@clang)
+  end
+
+  def test_apple_compiler_reporting
+    assert @clang.apple_compiler?
+    assert @gcc.apple_compiler?
+    assert @llvm.apple_compiler?
+    assert @gcc4.apple_compiler?
+    assert !@gcc48.apple_compiler?
+  end
+
+  def test_type_string_formatting
+    assert_equal @clang.type_string, 'libstdc++'
+    assert_equal @lcxx.type_string, 'libc++'
+  end
+
+  def test_constructing_from_tab
+    stdlib = Tab.dummy_tab.cxxstdlib
+    assert_equal stdlib.compiler, :clang
+    assert_equal stdlib.type, :libstdcxx
+  end
+end