diff --git a/Tools/gdb/libpython.py b/Tools/gdb/libpython.py
index 3050c89..f62735f 100644
--- a/Tools/gdb/libpython.py
+++ b/Tools/gdb/libpython.py
@@ -1097,6 +1097,11 @@
 register (gdb.current_objfile ())
 
 
+
+# Unfortunately, the exact API exposed by the gdb module varies somewhat
+# from build to build
+# See http://bugs.python.org/issue8279?#msg102276
+
 class Frame(object):
     '''
     Wrapper for gdb.Frame, adding various methods
@@ -1119,7 +1124,16 @@
             return None
 
     def select(self):
+        '''If supported, select this frame and return True; return False if unsupported
+
+        Not all builds have a gdb.Frame.select method; seems to be present on Fedora 12
+        onwards, but absent on Ubuntu buildbot'''
+        if not hasattr(self._gdbframe, 'select'):
+            print ('Unable to select frame: '
+                   'this build of gdb does not expose a gdb.Frame.select method')
+            return False
         self._gdbframe.select()
+        return True
 
     def get_index(self):
         '''Calculate index of frame, starting at 0 for the newest frame within
@@ -1133,6 +1147,7 @@
         return index
 
     def is_evalframeex(self):
+        '''Is this a PyEval_EvalFrameEx frame?'''
         if self._gdbframe.name() == 'PyEval_EvalFrameEx':
             '''
             I believe we also need to filter on the inline
@@ -1270,8 +1285,8 @@
 
         if iter_frame.is_evalframeex():
             # Result:
-            iter_frame.select()
-            iter_frame.print_summary()
+            if iter_frame.select():
+                iter_frame.print_summary()
             return
 
         frame = iter_frame