diff --git a/src/librustc_driver/lib.rs b/src/librustc_driver/lib.rs
index dc30b4f91a985..ea06d236c6534 100644
--- a/src/librustc_driver/lib.rs
+++ b/src/librustc_driver/lib.rs
@@ -127,7 +127,8 @@ pub fn abort_on_err<T>(result: Result<T, usize>, sess: &Session) -> T {
 }
 
 pub fn run(args: Vec<String>) -> isize {
-    monitor(move || {
+    // args is moved to a child thread (cfg.spawn()) whose lifetime is unknown to Rust
+    monitor(&args.clone(), move || {
         let (result, session) = run_compiler(&args, &mut RustcDefaultCalls);
         if let Err(err_count) = result {
             if err_count > 0 {
@@ -614,7 +615,11 @@ impl RustcDefaultCalls {
     }
 }
 
-/// Returns a version string such as "0.12.0-dev".
+// These three functions were originally intended to provide some reflectional
+// information on the compiler version, but they are no longer very useful since
+// librustc_driver was market as "private",
+
+/// Returns a version string such as "1.9.0-dev".
 pub fn release_str() -> Option<&'static str> {
     option_env!("CFG_RELEASE")
 }
@@ -1010,7 +1015,7 @@ fn parse_crate_attrs<'a>(sess: &'a Session, input: &Input) -> PResult<'a, Vec<as
 ///
 /// The diagnostic emitter yielded to the procedure should be used for reporting
 /// errors of the compiler.
-pub fn monitor<F: FnOnce() + Send + 'static>(f: F) {
+pub fn monitor<F: FnOnce() + Send + 'static>(args: &[String], f: F) {
     const STACK_SIZE: usize = 8 * 1024 * 1024; // 8MB
 
     struct Sink(Arc<Mutex<Vec<u8>>>);
@@ -1050,8 +1055,12 @@ pub fn monitor<F: FnOnce() + Send + 'static>(f: F) {
                 emitter.emit(None, "unexpected panic", None, errors::Level::Bug);
             }
 
-            let xs = ["the compiler unexpectedly panicked. this is a bug.".to_string(),
-                      format!("we would appreciate a bug report: {}", BUG_REPORT_URL)];
+            let xs = [format!("the compiler unexpectedly panicked. this is a bug."),
+                      format!("we would appreciate a bug report:"),
+                      format!("  {}", BUG_REPORT_URL),
+                      format!("version: {}", option_env!("CFG_VERSION").unwrap_or("unknown")),
+                      format!("host: {}", config::host_triple()),
+                      format!("arguments: {:?}", args)];
             for note in &xs {
                 emitter.emit(None, &note[..], None, errors::Level::Note)
             }
diff --git a/src/librustdoc/lib.rs b/src/librustdoc/lib.rs
index 90cb78f46a67c..597e9bc668f5f 100644
--- a/src/librustdoc/lib.rs
+++ b/src/librustdoc/lib.rs
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ pub fn main_args(args: &[String]) -> isize {
                                                  !matches.opt_present("markdown-no-toc")),
         (false, false) => {}
     }
-    let out = match acquire_input(input, externs, &matches) {
+    let out = match acquire_input(input, externs, &matches, args) {
         Ok(out) => out,
         Err(s) => {
             println!("input error: {}", s);
@@ -311,16 +311,17 @@ pub fn main_args(args: &[String]) -> isize {
 /// and files and then generates the necessary rustdoc output for formatting.
 fn acquire_input(input: &str,
                  externs: core::Externs,
-                 matches: &getopts::Matches) -> Result<Output, String> {
+                 matches: &getopts::Matches,
+                 cmdline_args: &[String]) -> Result<Output, String> {
     match matches.opt_str("r").as_ref().map(|s| &**s) {
-        Some("rust") => Ok(rust_input(input, externs, matches)),
+        Some("rust") => Ok(rust_input(input, externs, matches, cmdline_args)),
         Some("json") => json_input(input),
         Some(s) => Err(format!("unknown input format: {}", s)),
         None => {
             if input.ends_with(".json") {
                 json_input(input)
             } else {
-                Ok(rust_input(input, externs, matches))
+                Ok(rust_input(input, externs, matches, cmdline_args))
             }
         }
     }
@@ -348,7 +349,8 @@ fn parse_externs(matches: &getopts::Matches) -> Result<core::Externs, String> {
 /// generated from the cleaned AST of the crate.
 ///
 /// This form of input will run all of the plug/cleaning passes
-fn rust_input(cratefile: &str, externs: core::Externs, matches: &getopts::Matches) -> Output {
+fn rust_input(cratefile: &str, externs: core::Externs, matches: &getopts::Matches,
+              cmdline_args: &[String]) -> Output {
     let mut default_passes = !matches.opt_present("no-defaults");
     let mut passes = matches.opt_strs("passes");
     let mut plugins = matches.opt_strs("plugins");
@@ -365,7 +367,7 @@ fn rust_input(cratefile: &str, externs: core::Externs, matches: &getopts::Matche
     info!("starting to run rustc");
 
     let (tx, rx) = channel();
-    rustc_driver::monitor(move || {
+    rustc_driver::monitor(cmdline_args, move || {
         use rustc::session::config::Input;
 
         tx.send(core::run_core(paths, cfgs, externs, Input::File(cr),
diff --git a/src/tools/rustbook/build.rs b/src/tools/rustbook/build.rs
index 6014439fafcf9..ce78dc11e85a9 100644
--- a/src/tools/rustbook/build.rs
+++ b/src/tools/rustbook/build.rs
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ fn render(book: &Book, tgt: &Path) -> CliResult<()> {
 
         fs::create_dir_all(&out_path)?;
 
-        let rustdoc_args: &[String] = &[
+        let rustdoc_args = vec![
             "".to_string(),
             preprocessed_path.display().to_string(),
             format!("-o{}", out_path.display()),
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ fn render(book: &Book, tgt: &Path) -> CliResult<()> {
             format!("--markdown-css={}", item.path_to_root.join("rustbook.css").display()),
             "--markdown-no-toc".to_string(),
         ];
-        let output_result = rustdoc::main_args(rustdoc_args);
+        let output_result = rustdoc::main_args(&rustdoc_args);
         if output_result != 0 {
             let message = format!("Could not execute `rustdoc` with {:?}: {}",
                                   rustdoc_args, output_result);