diff --git a/Doc/library/functions.rst b/Doc/library/functions.rst
index 015231d..08093e6 100644
--- a/Doc/library/functions.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/functions.rst
@@ -7,24 +7,24 @@
 The Python interpreter has a number of functions and types built into it that
 are always available.  They are listed here in alphabetical order.
 
-===================  =================  ==================  ================  ====================
-..                   ..                 Built-in Functions  ..                ..
-===================  =================  ==================  ================  ====================
-:func:`abs`          |func-dict|_       :func:`help`        :func:`min`       :func:`setattr`
-:func:`all`          :func:`dir`        :func:`hex`         :func:`next`      :func:`slice`
-:func:`any`          :func:`divmod`     :func:`id`          :func:`object`    :func:`sorted`
-:func:`ascii`        :func:`enumerate`  :func:`input`       :func:`oct`       :func:`staticmethod`
-:func:`bin`          :func:`eval`       :func:`int`         :func:`open`      |func-str|_
-:func:`bool`         :func:`exec`       :func:`isinstance`  :func:`ord`       :func:`sum`
-|func-bytearray|_    :func:`filter`     :func:`issubclass`  :func:`pow`       :func:`super`
-|func-bytes|_        :func:`float`      :func:`iter`        :func:`print`     |func-tuple|_
-:func:`callable`     :func:`format`     :func:`len`         :func:`property`  :func:`type`
-:func:`chr`          |func-frozenset|_  |func-list|_        |func-range|_     :func:`vars`
-:func:`classmethod`  :func:`getattr`    :func:`locals`      :func:`repr`      :func:`zip`
-:func:`compile`      :func:`globals`    :func:`map`         :func:`reversed`  :func:`__import__`
+===================  =================  ==================  ==================  ====================
+..                   ..                 Built-in Functions  ..                  ..
+===================  =================  ==================  ==================  ====================
+:func:`abs`          :func:`delattr`    :func:`hash`        |func-memoryview|_  |func-set|_
+:func:`all`          |func-dict|_       :func:`help`        :func:`min`         :func:`setattr`
+:func:`any`          :func:`dir`        :func:`hex`         :func:`next`        :func:`slice`
+:func:`ascii`        :func:`divmod`     :func:`id`          :func:`object`      :func:`sorted`
+:func:`bin`          :func:`enumerate`  :func:`input`       :func:`oct`         :func:`staticmethod`
+:func:`bool`         :func:`eval`       :func:`int`         :func:`open`        |func-str|_
+:func:`breakpoint`   :func:`exec`       :func:`isinstance`  :func:`ord`         :func:`sum`
+|func-bytearray|_    :func:`filter`     :func:`issubclass`  :func:`pow`         :func:`super`
+|func-bytes|_        :func:`float`      :func:`iter`        :func:`print`       |func-tuple|_
+:func:`callable`     :func:`format`     :func:`len`         :func:`property`    :func:`type`
+:func:`chr`          |func-frozenset|_  |func-list|_        |func-range|_       :func:`vars`
+:func:`classmethod`  :func:`getattr`    :func:`locals`      :func:`repr`        :func:`zip`
+:func:`compile`      :func:`globals`    :func:`map`         :func:`reversed`    :func:`__import__`
 :func:`complex`      :func:`hasattr`    :func:`max`         :func:`round`
-:func:`delattr`      :func:`hash`       |func-memoryview|_  |func-set|_
-===================  =================  ==================  ================  ====================
+===================  =================  ==================  ==================  ====================
 
 .. using :func:`dict` would create a link to another page, so local targets are
    used, with replacement texts to make the output in the table consistent
@@ -113,6 +113,20 @@
    .. index:: pair: Boolean; type
 
 
+.. function:: breakpoint(*args, **kws)
+
+   This function drops you into the debugger at the call site.  Specifically,
+   it calls :func:`sys.breakpointhook`, passing ``args`` and ``kws`` straight
+   through.  By default, ``sys.breakpointhook()`` calls
+   :func:`pdb.set_trace()` expecting no arguments.  In this case, it is
+   purely a convenience function so you don't have to explicitly import
+   :mod:`pdb` or type as much code to enter the debugger.  However,
+   :func:`sys.breakpointhook` can be set to some other function and
+   :func:`breakpoint` will automatically call that, allowing you to drop into
+   the debugger of choice.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.7
+
 .. _func-bytearray:
 .. class:: bytearray([source[, encoding[, errors]]])
    :noindex:
diff --git a/Doc/library/sys.rst b/Doc/library/sys.rst
index 85f3136..aa7bd47 100644
--- a/Doc/library/sys.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/sys.rst
@@ -109,6 +109,40 @@
    This function should be used for internal and specialized purposes only.
 
 
+.. function:: breakpointhook()
+
+   This hook function is called by built-in :func:`breakpoint`.  By default,
+   it drops you into the :mod:`pdb` debugger, but it can be set to any other
+   function so that you can choose which debugger gets used.
+
+   The signature of this function is dependent on what it calls.  For example,
+   the default binding (e.g. ``pdb.set_trace()``) expects no arguments, but
+   you might bind it to a function that expects additional arguments
+   (positional and/or keyword).  The built-in ``breakpoint()`` function passes
+   its ``*args`` and ``**kws`` straight through.  Whatever
+   ``breakpointhooks()`` returns is returned from ``breakpoint()``.
+
+   The default implementation first consults the environment variable
+   :envvar:`PYTHONBREAKPOINT`.  If that is set to ``"0"`` then this function
+   returns immediately; i.e. it is a no-op.  If the environment variable is
+   not set, or is set to the empty string, ``pdb.set_trace()`` is called.
+   Otherwise this variable should name a function to run, using Python's
+   dotted-import nomenclature, e.g. ``package.subpackage.module.function``.
+   In this case, ``package.subpackage.module`` would be imported and the
+   resulting module must have a callable named ``function()``.  This is run,
+   passing in ``*args`` and ``**kws``, and whatever ``function()`` returns,
+   ``sys.breakpointhook()`` returns to the built-in :func:`breakpoint`
+   function.
+
+   Note that if anything goes wrong while importing the callable named by
+   :envvar:`PYTHONBREAKPOINT`, a :exc:`RuntimeWarning` is reported and the
+   breakpoint is ignored.
+
+   Also note that if ``sys.breakpointhook()`` is overridden programmatically,
+   :envvar:`PYTHONBREAKPOINT` is *not* consulted.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.7
+
 .. function:: _debugmallocstats()
 
    Print low-level information to stderr about the state of CPython's memory
@@ -187,14 +221,19 @@
    customized by assigning another three-argument function to ``sys.excepthook``.
 
 
-.. data:: __displayhook__
+.. data:: __breakpointhook__
+          __displayhook__
           __excepthook__
 
-   These objects contain the original values of ``displayhook`` and ``excepthook``
-   at the start of the program.  They are saved so that ``displayhook`` and
-   ``excepthook`` can be restored in case they happen to get replaced with broken
+   These objects contain the original values of ``breakpointhook``,
+   ``displayhook``, and ``excepthook`` at the start of the program.  They are
+   saved so that ``breakpointhook``, ``displayhook`` and ``excepthook`` can be
+   restored in case they happen to get replaced with broken or alternative
    objects.
 
+   .. versionadded:: 3.7
+      __breakpointhook__
+
 
 .. function:: exc_info()
 
diff --git a/Doc/using/cmdline.rst b/Doc/using/cmdline.rst
index 7b60a9b..a8cdff6 100644
--- a/Doc/using/cmdline.rst
+++ b/Doc/using/cmdline.rst
@@ -502,6 +502,18 @@
    :option:`-O` multiple times.
 
 
+.. envvar:: PYTHONBREAKPOINT
+
+   If this is set, it names a callable using dotted-path notation.  The module
+   containing the callable will be imported and then the callable will be run
+   by the default implementation of :func:`sys.breakpointhook` which itself is
+   called by built-in :func:`breakpoint`.  If not set, or set to the empty
+   string, it is equivalent to the value "pdb.set_trace".  Setting this to the
+   string "0" causes the default implementation of :func:`sys.breakpointhook`
+   to do nothing but return immediately.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.7
+
 .. envvar:: PYTHONDEBUG
 
    If this is set to a non-empty string it is equivalent to specifying the
diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/3.7.rst b/Doc/whatsnew/3.7.rst
index 19b766f..3e8617e 100644
--- a/Doc/whatsnew/3.7.rst
+++ b/Doc/whatsnew/3.7.rst
@@ -107,6 +107,25 @@
     :pep:`538` -- Coercing the legacy C locale to a UTF-8 based locale
        PEP written and implemented by Nick Coghlan.
 
+.. _whatsnew37-pep553:
+
+PEP 553: Built-in breakpoint()
+------------------------------
+
+:pep:`553` describes a new built-in called ``breakpoint()`` which makes it
+easy and consistent to enter the Python debugger.  Built-in ``breakpoint()``
+calls ``sys.breakpointhook()``.  By default, this latter imports ``pdb`` and
+then calls ``pdb.set_trace()``, but by binding ``sys.breakpointhook()`` to the
+function of your choosing, ``breakpoint()`` can enter any debugger.  Or, the
+environment variable :envvar:`PYTHONBREAKPOINT` can be set to the callable of
+your debugger of choice.  Set ``PYTHONBREAKPOINT=0`` to completely disable
+built-in ``breakpoint()``.
+
+.. seealso::
+
+    :pep:`553` -- Built-in breakpoint()
+      PEP written and implemented by Barry Warsaw
+
 
 Other Language Changes
 ======================
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_builtin.py b/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
index 87dcda7..0a61c05 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
@@ -17,9 +17,12 @@
 import types
 import unittest
 import warnings
+from contextlib import ExitStack
 from operator import neg
-from test.support import TESTFN, unlink, check_warnings
+from test.support import (
+    EnvironmentVarGuard, TESTFN, check_warnings, swap_attr, unlink)
 from test.support.script_helper import assert_python_ok
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 try:
     import pty, signal
 except ImportError:
@@ -1514,6 +1517,111 @@
             self.assertRaises(TypeError, tp, 1, 2)
             self.assertRaises(TypeError, tp, a=1, b=2)
 
+
+class TestBreakpoint(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        # These tests require a clean slate environment.  For example, if the
+        # test suite is run with $PYTHONBREAKPOINT set to something else, it
+        # will mess up these tests.  Similarly for sys.breakpointhook.
+        # Cleaning the slate here means you can't use breakpoint() to debug
+        # these tests, but I think that's okay.  Just use pdb.set_trace() if
+        # you must.
+        self.resources = ExitStack()
+        self.addCleanup(self.resources.close)
+        self.env = self.resources.enter_context(EnvironmentVarGuard())
+        del self.env['PYTHONBREAKPOINT']
+        self.resources.enter_context(
+            swap_attr(sys, 'breakpointhook', sys.__breakpointhook__))
+
+    def test_breakpoint(self):
+        with patch('pdb.set_trace') as mock:
+            breakpoint()
+        mock.assert_called_once()
+
+    def test_breakpoint_with_breakpointhook_set(self):
+        my_breakpointhook = MagicMock()
+        sys.breakpointhook = my_breakpointhook
+        breakpoint()
+        my_breakpointhook.assert_called_once_with()
+
+    def test_breakpoint_with_breakpointhook_reset(self):
+        my_breakpointhook = MagicMock()
+        sys.breakpointhook = my_breakpointhook
+        breakpoint()
+        my_breakpointhook.assert_called_once_with()
+        # Reset the hook and it will not be called again.
+        sys.breakpointhook = sys.__breakpointhook__
+        with patch('pdb.set_trace') as mock:
+            breakpoint()
+            mock.assert_called_once_with()
+        my_breakpointhook.assert_called_once_with()
+
+    def test_breakpoint_with_args_and_keywords(self):
+        my_breakpointhook = MagicMock()
+        sys.breakpointhook = my_breakpointhook
+        breakpoint(1, 2, 3, four=4, five=5)
+        my_breakpointhook.assert_called_once_with(1, 2, 3, four=4, five=5)
+
+    def test_breakpoint_with_passthru_error(self):
+        def my_breakpointhook():
+            pass
+        sys.breakpointhook = my_breakpointhook
+        self.assertRaises(TypeError, breakpoint, 1, 2, 3, four=4, five=5)
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(sys.flags.ignore_environment, '-E was given')
+    def test_envar_good_path_builtin(self):
+        self.env['PYTHONBREAKPOINT'] = 'int'
+        with patch('builtins.int') as mock:
+            breakpoint('7')
+            mock.assert_called_once_with('7')
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(sys.flags.ignore_environment, '-E was given')
+    def test_envar_good_path_other(self):
+        self.env['PYTHONBREAKPOINT'] = 'sys.exit'
+        with patch('sys.exit') as mock:
+            breakpoint()
+            mock.assert_called_once_with()
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(sys.flags.ignore_environment, '-E was given')
+    def test_envar_good_path_noop_0(self):
+        self.env['PYTHONBREAKPOINT'] = '0'
+        with patch('pdb.set_trace') as mock:
+            breakpoint()
+            mock.assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_envar_good_path_empty_string(self):
+        # PYTHONBREAKPOINT='' is the same as it not being set.
+        self.env['PYTHONBREAKPOINT'] = ''
+        with patch('pdb.set_trace') as mock:
+            breakpoint()
+            mock.assert_called_once_with()
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(sys.flags.ignore_environment, '-E was given')
+    def test_envar_unimportable(self):
+        for envar in (
+                '.', '..', '.foo', 'foo.', '.int', 'int.'
+                'nosuchbuiltin',
+                'nosuchmodule.nosuchcallable',
+                ):
+            with self.subTest(envar=envar):
+                self.env['PYTHONBREAKPOINT'] = envar
+                mock = self.resources.enter_context(patch('pdb.set_trace'))
+                w = self.resources.enter_context(check_warnings(quiet=True))
+                breakpoint()
+                self.assertEqual(
+                    str(w.message),
+                    f'Ignoring unimportable $PYTHONBREAKPOINT: "{envar}"')
+                self.assertEqual(w.category, RuntimeWarning)
+                mock.assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_envar_ignored_when_hook_is_set(self):
+        self.env['PYTHONBREAKPOINT'] = 'sys.exit'
+        with patch('sys.exit') as mock:
+            sys.breakpointhook = int
+            breakpoint()
+            mock.assert_not_called()
+
+
 @unittest.skipUnless(pty, "the pty and signal modules must be available")
 class PtyTests(unittest.TestCase):
     """Tests that use a pseudo terminal to guarantee stdin and stdout are
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_inspect.py b/Lib/test/test_inspect.py
index 7cc1e78..819fcc5 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_inspect.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_inspect.py
@@ -3523,7 +3523,8 @@
         needs_semantic_update = {"round"}
         no_signature |= needs_semantic_update
         # These need *args support in Argument Clinic
-        needs_varargs = {"min", "max", "print", "__build_class__"}
+        needs_varargs = {"breakpoint", "min", "max", "print",
+                         "__build_class__"}
         no_signature |= needs_varargs
         # These simply weren't covered in the initial AC conversion
         # for builtin callables
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2017-09-05-14-19-02.bpo-31353.oGZUeJ.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2017-09-05-14-19-02.bpo-31353.oGZUeJ.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..55f81cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2017-09-05-14-19-02.bpo-31353.oGZUeJ.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+:pep:`553` - Add a new built-in called ``breakpoint()`` which calls
+``sys.breakpointhook()``.  By default this imports ``pdb`` and calls
+``pdb.set_trace()``, but users may override ``sys.breakpointhook()`` to call
+whatever debugger they want.  The original value of the hook is saved in
+``sys.__breakpointhook__``.
diff --git a/Python/bltinmodule.c b/Python/bltinmodule.c
index 2269fe2..6215a63 100644
--- a/Python/bltinmodule.c
+++ b/Python/bltinmodule.c
@@ -422,6 +422,28 @@
     return PyBool_FromLong((long)PyCallable_Check(obj));
 }
 
+static PyObject *
+builtin_breakpoint(PyObject *self, PyObject **args, Py_ssize_t nargs, PyObject *keywords)
+{
+    PyObject *hook = PySys_GetObject("breakpointhook");
+
+    if (hook == NULL) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "lost sys.breakpointhook");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    Py_INCREF(hook);
+    PyObject *retval = _PyObject_FastCallKeywords(hook, args, nargs, keywords);
+    Py_DECREF(hook);
+    return retval;
+}
+
+PyDoc_STRVAR(breakpoint_doc,
+"breakpoint(*args, **kws)\n\
+\n\
+Call sys.breakpointhook(*args, **kws).  sys.breakpointhook() must accept\n\
+whatever arguments are passed.\n\
+\n\
+By default, this drops you into the pdb debugger.");
 
 typedef struct {
     PyObject_HEAD
@@ -2627,6 +2649,7 @@
     BUILTIN_ANY_METHODDEF
     BUILTIN_ASCII_METHODDEF
     BUILTIN_BIN_METHODDEF
+    {"breakpoint",      (PyCFunction)builtin_breakpoint, METH_FASTCALL | METH_KEYWORDS, breakpoint_doc},
     BUILTIN_CALLABLE_METHODDEF
     BUILTIN_CHR_METHODDEF
     BUILTIN_COMPILE_METHODDEF
diff --git a/Python/sysmodule.c b/Python/sysmodule.c
index 6d2cc96..e38a200 100644
--- a/Python/sysmodule.c
+++ b/Python/sysmodule.c
@@ -96,6 +96,81 @@
         return PyDict_SetItemString(sd, name, v);
 }
 
+static PyObject *
+sys_breakpointhook(PyObject *self, PyObject **args, Py_ssize_t nargs, PyObject *keywords)
+{
+    assert(!PyErr_Occurred());
+    char *envar = Py_GETENV("PYTHONBREAKPOINT");
+
+    if (envar == NULL || strlen(envar) == 0) {
+        envar = "pdb.set_trace";
+    }
+    else if (!strcmp(envar, "0")) {
+        /* The breakpoint is explicitly no-op'd. */
+        Py_RETURN_NONE;
+    }
+    char *last_dot = strrchr(envar, '.');
+    char *attrname = NULL;
+    PyObject *modulepath = NULL;
+
+    if (last_dot == NULL) {
+        /* The breakpoint is a built-in, e.g. PYTHONBREAKPOINT=int */
+        modulepath = PyUnicode_FromString("builtins");
+        attrname = envar;
+    }
+    else {
+        /* Split on the last dot; */
+        modulepath = PyUnicode_FromStringAndSize(envar, last_dot - envar);
+        attrname = last_dot + 1;
+    }
+    if (modulepath == NULL) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    PyObject *fromlist = Py_BuildValue("(s)", attrname);
+    if (fromlist == NULL) {
+        Py_DECREF(modulepath);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    PyObject *module = PyImport_ImportModuleLevelObject(
+        modulepath, NULL, NULL, fromlist, 0);
+    Py_DECREF(modulepath);
+    Py_DECREF(fromlist);
+
+    if (module == NULL) {
+        goto error;
+    }
+
+    PyObject *hook = PyObject_GetAttrString(module, attrname);
+    Py_DECREF(module);
+
+    if (hook == NULL) {
+        goto error;
+    }
+    PyObject *retval = _PyObject_FastCallKeywords(hook, args, nargs, keywords);
+    Py_DECREF(hook);
+    return retval;
+
+  error:
+    /* If any of the imports went wrong, then warn and ignore. */
+    PyErr_Clear();
+    int status = PyErr_WarnFormat(
+        PyExc_RuntimeWarning, 0,
+        "Ignoring unimportable $PYTHONBREAKPOINT: \"%s\"", envar);
+    if (status < 0) {
+        /* Printing the warning raised an exception. */
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    /* The warning was (probably) issued. */
+    Py_RETURN_NONE;
+}
+
+PyDoc_STRVAR(breakpointhook_doc,
+"breakpointhook(*args, **kws)\n"
+"\n"
+"This hook function is called by built-in breakpoint().\n"
+);
+
 /* Write repr(o) to sys.stdout using sys.stdout.encoding and 'backslashreplace'
    error handler. If sys.stdout has a buffer attribute, use
    sys.stdout.buffer.write(encoded), otherwise redecode the string and use
@@ -1365,6 +1440,8 @@
 
 static PyMethodDef sys_methods[] = {
     /* Might as well keep this in alphabetic order */
+    {"breakpointhook",  (PyCFunction)sys_breakpointhook,
+     METH_FASTCALL | METH_KEYWORDS, breakpointhook_doc},
     {"callstats", (PyCFunction)sys_callstats, METH_NOARGS,
      callstats_doc},
     {"_clear_type_cache",       sys_clear_type_cache,     METH_NOARGS,
@@ -1977,6 +2054,9 @@
                                PyDict_GetItemString(sysdict, "displayhook"));
     SET_SYS_FROM_STRING_BORROW("__excepthook__",
                                PyDict_GetItemString(sysdict, "excepthook"));
+    SET_SYS_FROM_STRING_BORROW(
+        "__breakpointhook__",
+        PyDict_GetItemString(sysdict, "breakpointhook"));
     SET_SYS_FROM_STRING("version",
                          PyUnicode_FromString(Py_GetVersion()));
     SET_SYS_FROM_STRING("hexversion",