diff --git a/lib/backtrace.c b/lib/backtrace.c
index 861a109d2..9b7c52b9a 100644
--- a/lib/backtrace.c
+++ b/lib/backtrace.c
@@ -15,8 +15,12 @@
  */
 
 #include <config.h>
+#include <inttypes.h>
 
 #include "backtrace.h"
+#include "vlog.h"
+
+VLOG_DEFINE_THIS_MODULE(backtrace);
 
 #ifdef HAVE_BACKTRACE
 #include <execinfo.h>
@@ -31,6 +35,7 @@ backtrace_capture(struct backtrace *b)
         b->frames[i] = (uintptr_t) frames[i];
     }
 }
+
 #else
 void
 backtrace_capture(struct backtrace *backtrace)
@@ -38,3 +43,36 @@ backtrace_capture(struct backtrace *backtrace)
     backtrace->n_frames = 0;
 }
 #endif
+
+static char *
+backtrace_format(const struct backtrace *b, struct ds *ds)
+{
+    if (b->n_frames) {
+        int i;
+
+        ds_put_cstr(ds, " (backtrace:");
+        for (i = 0; i < b->n_frames; i++) {
+            ds_put_format(ds, " 0x%08"PRIxPTR, b->frames[i]);
+        }
+        ds_put_cstr(ds, ")");
+    }
+
+    return ds_cstr(ds);
+}
+
+void
+log_backtrace_at(const char *msg, const char *where)
+{
+    struct backtrace b;
+    struct ds ds = DS_EMPTY_INITIALIZER;
+
+    backtrace_capture(&b);
+    if (msg) {
+        ds_put_format(&ds, "%s ", msg);
+    }
+
+    ds_put_cstr(&ds, where);
+    VLOG_ERR("%s", backtrace_format(&b, &ds));
+
+    ds_destroy(&ds);
+}
diff --git a/lib/backtrace.h b/lib/backtrace.h
index cee0602f3..2527243f7 100644
--- a/lib/backtrace.h
+++ b/lib/backtrace.h
@@ -18,6 +18,48 @@
 #define BACKTRACE_H 1
 
 #include <stdint.h>
+#include "dynamic-string.h"
+
+/* log_backtrace() will save the backtrace of a running program
+ * into the log at the DEBUG level.
+ *
+ * To use it, insert the following code to where backtrace is
+ * desired:
+ *       #include "backtrace.h"
+ *
+ *       log_backtrace();
+ *       // A message can be added with log_backtrace_msg("your message")
+ *
+ *
+ * A typical log will look like the following. The hex numbers listed after
+ * "backtrace" are the addresses of the backtrace.
+ *
+ * 2014-03-13T23:18:11.979Z|00002|backtrace(revalidator_6)|ERR|lib/dpif-netdev.c:1312: (backtrace: 0x00521f57 0x00460365 0x00463ea4 0x0046470b 0x0043b32d 0x0043bac3 0x0043bae2 0x0043943b 0x004c22b3 0x2b5b3ac94e9a 0x2b5b3b4a33fd)
+ *
+ * The following bash command can be used to  view backtrace in
+ * a more readable form.
+ * addr2line -p -e vswitchd/ovs-vswitchd <cut-and-paste back traces>
+ *
+ * An typical run and output will look like:
+ * addr2line -p -e vswitchd/ovs-vswitchd  0x00521f57 0x00460365 0x00463ea4
+ * 0x0046470b 0x0043b32d 0x0043bac3 0x0043bae2 0x0043943b 0x004c22b3
+ * 0x2b5b3ac94e9a 0x2b5b3b4a33fd
+ *
+ * openvswitch/lib/backtrace.c:33
+ * openvswitch/lib/dpif-netdev.c:1312
+ * openvswitch/lib/dpif.c:937
+ * openvswitch/lib/dpif.c:1258
+ * openvswitch/ofproto/ofproto-dpif-upcall.c:1440
+ * openvswitch/ofproto/ofproto-dpif-upcall.c:1595
+ * openvswitch/ofproto/ofproto-dpif-upcall.c:160
+ * openvswitch/ofproto/ofproto-dpif-upcall.c:717
+ * openvswitch/lib/ovs-thread.c:268
+ * ??:0
+ * ??:0
+ */
+
+#define log_backtrace() log_backtrace_at(NULL, SOURCE_LOCATOR);
+#define log_backtrace_msg(msg) log_backtrace_at(msg, SOURCE_LOCATOR);
 
 #define BACKTRACE_MAX_FRAMES 31
 
@@ -27,5 +69,6 @@ struct backtrace {
 };
 
 void backtrace_capture(struct backtrace *);
+void log_backtrace_at(const char *msg, const char *where);
 
 #endif /* backtrace.h */