diff --git a/v2/tools/gcc.jam b/v2/tools/gcc.jam
index 1ead6c8f8..28ad9c0ae 100644
--- a/v2/tools/gcc.jam
+++ b/v2/tools/gcc.jam
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ import set ;
 import common ;
 import errors ;
 
+if [ MATCH (--debug-configuration) : [ modules.peek : ARGV ] ]
+{
+    .debug-configuration = true ;
+}
+
+
 feature.extend toolset : gcc ;
 
 import unix ;
@@ -28,7 +34,6 @@ generators.override gcc.prebuilt : builtin.prebuilt ;
 generators.override gcc.searched-lib-generator : searched-lib-generator ;
 
 
-
 # Make the "o" suffix used for gcc toolset on all
 # platforms
 type.set-generated-target-suffix OBJ : <toolset>gcc : o ;
@@ -60,11 +65,21 @@ rule init ( version ? : command * : options * )
     
     # If gcc is installed in non-standard location, we'd need to
     # add LD_LIBRARY_PATH when running programs created with it
-    # (for unit-test/run rules).
+    # (for unit-test/run rules).       
     if $(command)
     {
-        local path = [ common.get-absolute-tool-path $(command[-1]) ] ;
-        local lib_path = $(path:D)/lib ;
+        local root = [ feature.get-values <root> : $(options) ] ;
+        if ! $(root)
+        {            
+            root = [ common.get-absolute-tool-path $(command[-1]) ] ;
+            root = $(root:D) ;
+        }        
+        local lib_path = $(root)/lib ;
+        if $(.debug-configuration)
+        {
+            ECHO "notice: gcc lib directory for version" $(condition) ;
+            ECHO "notice:   is" $(lib_path) ;
+        }
         flags gcc.link RUN_PATH $(condition) : $(lib_path) ;
     }