diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.core/plugin.xml b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.core/plugin.xml
index 17133ed0fc4..fbf5b63700a 100644
--- a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.core/plugin.xml
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.core/plugin.xml
@@ -396,6 +396,7 @@
                name="%Configuration.build.name">
             <toolChain
                   archList="all"
+                  configurationEnvironmentSupplier="org.eclipse.cdt.internal.autotools.core.AutotoolsEnvironmentVariableSupplier"
                   id="org.eclipse.linuxtools.cdt.autotools.core.toolChain"
                   languageSettingsProviders="org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.GCCBuildCommandParser;org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.GCCBuiltinSpecsDetector"
                   name="%Autotools.gnu.toolchain.name"
diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/autotools/core/AutotoolsEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/autotools/core/AutotoolsEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..221578fc9df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/autotools/core/AutotoolsEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2015 Ericson and others.
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ * Contributors:
+ *     Marc-Andre Laperle (Ericsson) - initial API and implementation
+ *******************************************************************************/
+package org.eclipse.cdt.internal.autotools.core;
+
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.envvar.EnvironmentVariable;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.envvar.IEnvironmentVariable;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.IConfiguration;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.envvar.IBuildEnvironmentVariable;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.envvar.IConfigurationEnvironmentVariableSupplier;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.envvar.IEnvironmentVariableProvider;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Platform;
+
+/**
+ * Supplies some default environment variables for the Autotools toolchain. For
+ * example, V=1 to enable verbose output necessary for proper GCC output
+ * parsing.
+ *
+ * @noreference This class is not intended to be referenced by clients.
+ * @noextend This class is not intended to be subclassed by clients.
+ */
+public class AutotoolsEnvironmentVariableSupplier implements IConfigurationEnvironmentVariableSupplier {
+
+	private static class VerboseEnvironmentVariable extends EnvironmentVariable implements IBuildEnvironmentVariable {
+		private static final String VERBOSE_VAR_NAME = "V";
+		private static final String VERBOSE_VAR_VALUE = "1";
+
+		private VerboseEnvironmentVariable(String name, String value, int op, String delimiter) {
+			super(name, value, op, delimiter);
+		}
+
+		private static boolean isVar(String name) {
+			// Windows has case insensitive env var names
+			return Platform.getOS().equals(Platform.OS_WIN32) ? name.equalsIgnoreCase(VerboseEnvironmentVariable.VERBOSE_VAR_NAME)
+					: name.equals(VerboseEnvironmentVariable.VERBOSE_VAR_NAME);
+		}
+
+		private static IBuildEnvironmentVariable create(IConfiguration configuration) {
+			return new VerboseEnvironmentVariable(VERBOSE_VAR_NAME, VERBOSE_VAR_VALUE, IEnvironmentVariable.ENVVAR_PREPEND, null);
+		}
+	}
+
+	public IBuildEnvironmentVariable[] getVariables(IConfiguration configuration,
+			IEnvironmentVariableProvider provider) {
+		IBuildEnvironmentVariable path = VerboseEnvironmentVariable.create(configuration);
+		return new IBuildEnvironmentVariable[] { path };
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public IBuildEnvironmentVariable getVariable(String variableName, IConfiguration configuration,
+			IEnvironmentVariableProvider provider) {
+		if (VerboseEnvironmentVariable.isVar(variableName)) {
+			return VerboseEnvironmentVariable.create(configuration);
+		} else {
+			return null;
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/autotools/tests/AllAutotoolsTests.java b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/autotools/tests/AllAutotoolsTests.java
index 33c3b03f4af..98312753a3f 100644
--- a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/autotools/tests/AllAutotoolsTests.java
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/autotools/tests/AllAutotoolsTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*******************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2008 Red Hat Inc..
+ * Copyright (c) 2008, 2015 Red Hat Inc..
  * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
  * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
  * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ public class AllAutotoolsTests {
 		suite.addTestSuite(AutotoolsProjectTest1.class);
 		suite.addTestSuite(AutotoolsProjectTest2.class);
 		suite.addTestSuite(AutotoolsVirtualFolderTest.class);
+		suite.addTestSuite(AutotoolsEnvironmentVarTest.class);
 		suite.addTestSuite(UpdateConfigureTest.class);
 		suite.addTest(AutoconfTests.suite());
 		suite.addTest(EditorTests.suite());
diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/autotools/tests/AutotoolsEnvironmentVarTest.java b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/autotools/tests/AutotoolsEnvironmentVarTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c0997b6aca5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/autotools/tests/AutotoolsEnvironmentVarTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2015 Ericsson and others.
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ * Contributors:
+ *     Marc-Andre Laperle (Ericsson) - initial API and implementation
+ *******************************************************************************/
+package org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.tests;
+
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.eclipse.cdt.autotools.core.AutotoolsNewProjectNature;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.CCorePlugin;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.envvar.IEnvironmentVariable;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.model.CoreModel;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.settings.model.ICConfigurationDescription;
+import org.eclipse.core.resources.IProject;
+import org.eclipse.core.resources.IResource;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.NullProgressMonitor;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Path;
+
+import junit.framework.TestCase;
+
+public class AutotoolsEnvironmentVarTest extends TestCase {
+
+	private IProject testProject;
+
+	protected void setUp() throws Exception {
+		super.setUp();
+		if (!ProjectTools.setup())
+			fail("could not perform basic project workspace setup");
+		testProject = ProjectTools.createProject("testProject0");
+		if (testProject == null) {
+			fail("Unable to create test project");
+		}
+		testProject.open(new NullProgressMonitor());
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Test that a sample project contains the expected environment variables.
+	 * For example the verbose environment variable (V=1) necessary for proper
+	 * GCC output parsing.
+	 *
+	 * @throws Exception
+	 */
+	public void testAutotoolsEnvironmentVar() throws Exception {
+
+		Path p = new Path("zip/project1.zip");
+		ProjectTools.addSourceContainerWithImport(testProject, null, p, null, true);
+		assertTrue(testProject.hasNature(AutotoolsNewProjectNature.AUTOTOOLS_NATURE_ID));
+		ICConfigurationDescription cfgDes = CoreModel.getDefault().getProjectDescription(testProject)
+				.getActiveConfiguration();
+		IEnvironmentVariable[] variables = CCorePlugin.getDefault().getBuildEnvironmentManager().getVariables(cfgDes,
+				false);
+		Map<String, IEnvironmentVariable> environmentVariables = new HashMap<>();
+		for (IEnvironmentVariable var : variables) {
+			environmentVariables.put(var.getName(), var);
+		}
+
+		IEnvironmentVariable verboseEnvironmentVariable = environmentVariables.get("V");
+		assertNotNull(verboseEnvironmentVariable);
+		assertEquals("1", verboseEnvironmentVariable.getValue());
+	}
+
+	protected void tearDown() throws Exception {
+		testProject.refreshLocal(IResource.DEPTH_INFINITE, null);
+		try {
+			testProject.delete(true, true, null);
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			// FIXME: Why does a ResourceException occur when deleting the
+			// project??
+		}
+		super.tearDown();
+	}
+}
+