diff --git a/Setup.hs b/Setup.hs
index 28aea3095..438d71aac 100644
--- a/Setup.hs
+++ b/Setup.hs
@@ -137,17 +137,33 @@ generateTargetModule verbosity dir targetDir = do
                                     ++ "   dir <- getDataDir\n"
                                     ++ "   return (dir ++ \"/\" ++ name)"
 
+-- a module that has info about existence and location of a bundled toolchain
+generateToolchainModule verbosity srcDir toolDir = do
+    let commonContent = "module Tools_idris where\n\n"
+    let toolContent = case toolDir of
+                        Just dir -> "hasBundledToolchain = True\n" ++
+                                    "getToolchainDir = \"" ++ dir ++ "\"\n"
+                        Nothing -> "hasBundledToolchain = False\n" ++
+                                   "getToolchainDir = \"\""
+    let toolPath = srcDir </> "Tools_idris" Px.<.> "hs"
+    createDirectoryIfMissingVerbose verbosity True srcDir
+    rewriteFile toolPath (commonContent ++ toolContent)
 
 idrisConfigure _ flags _ local = do
-      configureRTS
-      generateVersionModule verbosity (autogenModulesDir local) (isRelease (configFlags local))
-      when (isFreestanding $ configFlags local) (do
-                targetDir <- lookupEnv "IDRIS_INSTALL_DIR"
+    configureRTS
+    generateVersionModule verbosity (autogenModulesDir local) (isRelease (configFlags local))
+    if (isFreestanding $ configFlags local)
+        then (do
+                toolDir <- lookupEnv "IDRIS_TOOLCHAIN_DIR"
+                generateToolchainModule verbosity (autogenModulesDir local) toolDir
+                targetDir <- lookupEnv "IDRIS_LIB_DIR"
                 case targetDir of
                      Just d -> generateTargetModule verbosity (autogenModulesDir local) d
                      Nothing -> error $ "Trying to build freestanding without a target directory."
-                                  ++ " Set it by defining IDRIS_INSTALL_DIR.")
-   where
+                                  ++ " Set it by defining IDRIS_LIB_DIR.")
+        else
+                generateToolchainModule verbosity (autogenModulesDir local) Nothing
+    where
       verbosity = S.fromFlag $ S.configVerbosity flags
       version   = pkgVersion . package $ localPkgDescr local
 
@@ -162,6 +178,7 @@ idrisPreSDist args flags = do
   let verb = S.fromFlag (S.sDistVerbosity flags)
   generateVersionModule verb ("src") True
   generateTargetModule verb "src" "./libs"
+  generateToolchainModule verb "src" Nothing
   preSDist simpleUserHooks args flags
 
 idrisPostSDist args flags desc lbi = do
diff --git a/codegen/idris-c/Main.hs b/codegen/idris-c/Main.hs
index a866980a2..6d228b346 100644
--- a/codegen/idris-c/Main.hs
+++ b/codegen/idris-c/Main.hs
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import Control.Monad
 
 import Paths_idris
 
+import Util.System
+
 data Opts = Opts { inputs :: [FilePath],
                    interface :: Bool,
                    output :: FilePath }
@@ -31,7 +33,8 @@ getOpts = do xs <- getArgs
     process opts [] = opts
 
 c_main :: Opts -> Idris ()
-c_main opts = do elabPrims
+c_main opts = do runIO setupBundledCC
+                 elabPrims
                  loadInputs (inputs opts) Nothing
                  mainProg <- if interface opts 
                                 then liftM Just elabMain
diff --git a/idris.cabal b/idris.cabal
index ed24ab528..66ec732a6 100644
--- a/idris.cabal
+++ b/idris.cabal
@@ -806,6 +806,7 @@ Library
                 -- Auto Generated
                 , Paths_idris
                 , Version_idris
+                , Tools_idris
 
   Build-depends:  base >=4 && <5
                 , annotated-wl-pprint >= 0.5.3 && < 0.6
diff --git a/main/Main.hs b/main/Main.hs
index d5a7af105..b9e41a6f4 100644
--- a/main/Main.hs
+++ b/main/Main.hs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import Idris.CmdOptions
 import IRTS.System ( getLibFlags, getIdrisLibDir, getIncFlags )
 
 import Util.DynamicLinker
+import Util.System
 
 import Pkg.Package
 
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ main = do opts <- runArgParser
 
 runIdris :: [Opt] -> Idris ()
 runIdris opts = do
+       runIO setupBundledCC
        when (ShowIncs `elem` opts) $ runIO showIncs
        when (ShowLibs `elem` opts) $ runIO showLibs
        when (ShowLibdir `elem` opts) $ runIO showLibdir
diff --git a/src/Util/System.hs b/src/Util/System.hs
index c814e4441..938a867cd 100644
--- a/src/Util/System.hs
+++ b/src/Util/System.hs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
 module Util.System(tempfile,withTempdir,rmFile,catchIO, isWindows,
-                   readSource, writeSource) where
+                writeSource, readSource, setupBundledCC) where
 
 -- System helper functions.
 import Control.Monad (when)
@@ -7,13 +8,19 @@ import System.Directory (getTemporaryDirectory
                         , removeFile
                         , removeDirectoryRecursive
                         , createDirectoryIfMissing
+                        , doesDirectoryExist
                         )
-import System.FilePath ((</>), normalise)
+import System.FilePath ((</>), normalise, isAbsolute, dropFileName)
 import System.IO
 import System.Info
 import System.IO.Error
 import Control.Exception as CE
 
+#ifdef FREESTANDING
+import Tools_idris
+import System.Environment (getEnv, setEnv, getExecutablePath)
+#endif
+
 catchIO :: IO a -> (IOError -> IO a) -> IO a
 catchIO = CE.catch
 
@@ -54,3 +61,24 @@ rmFile f = do putStrLn $ "Removing " ++ f
               catchIO (removeFile f)
                       (\ioerr -> putStrLn $ "WARNING: Cannot remove file "
                                  ++ f ++ ", Error msg:" ++ show ioerr)
+
+setupBundledCC :: IO()
+#ifdef FREESTANDING
+setupBundledCC = when hasBundledToolchain
+                    $ do
+                        exePath <- getExecutablePath
+                        path <- getEnv "PATH"
+                        tcDir <- return getToolchainDir
+                        absolute <- return $ isAbsolute tcDir
+                        target <- return $
+                                    if absolute
+                                       then tcDir
+                                       else dropFileName exePath ++ tcDir
+                        let pathSep = if isWindows then ";" else ":"
+                        present <- doesDirectoryExist target
+                        when present
+                            $ do newPath <- return $ target ++ pathSep ++ path
+                                 setEnv "PATH" newPath
+#else
+setupBundledCC = return ()
+#endif
diff --git a/win-release.sh b/win-release.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bcd4fcbcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/win-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+IDRIS_LIB_DIR="./libs" IDRIS_TOOLCHAIN_DIR="./mingw/bin" CABALFLAGS="-fffi -ffreestanding -frelease" make