diff --git a/Makefile.pre.in b/Makefile.pre.in
index e2082d9..4e5644d 100644
--- a/Makefile.pre.in
+++ b/Makefile.pre.in
@@ -601,7 +601,11 @@
 
 
 # Like testall, but with a single pass only
+# run an optional script to include some information about the build environment
 buildbottest:	all platform
+		-@if which pybuildbot.identify >/dev/null 2>&1; then \ 
+			pybuildbot.identify "CC=$(CC)" "CXX=$(CXX)"; \ 
+		fi 
 		$(TESTPYTHON) $(TESTPROG) $(TESTOPTS) -uall -rw
 
 QUICKTESTOPTS=	$(TESTOPTS) -x test_thread test_signal test_strftime \