diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 661cb566..70a8fca3 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -517,10 +517,13 @@ endif()
 set(USED_SOURCES ${ENGINE_SOURCES} ${AUDIO_SOURCES} src/main.cpp)
 
 if (USE_BACKWARD)
-  list(APPEND USED_SOURCES src/backtrace.cpp)
+  list(APPEND DEPENDENCIES_DEFINES HAVE_BACKWARD)
   if (WIN32 AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU")
     list(APPEND DEPENDENCIES_LIBRARIES dbghelp psapi)
   endif()
+  message(STATUS "Using backward-cpp")
+else()
+  message(STATUS "Not using backward-cpp")
 endif()
 
 if (BUILD_GUI)
diff --git a/src/backtrace.cpp b/src/backtrace.cpp
index 68a648ff..402cb647 100644
--- a/src/backtrace.cpp
+++ b/src/backtrace.cpp
@@ -39,4 +39,12 @@ namespace backward {
 
 backward::SignalHandling sh;
 
+void checkInitialized() {
+  if (!sh.loaded()) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    MessageBox(NULL,"Warning","crash backtrace not available!",MB_OK|MB_ICONWARNING);
+#endif
+  }
+}
+
 } // namespace backward
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 07905852..995fa6f0 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@
 #include "gui/gui.h"
 #endif
 
+#ifdef HAVE_BACKWARD
+#include "../extern/backward/backward.hpp"
+#endif
+
 DivEngine e;
 
 #ifdef HAVE_GUI
@@ -242,6 +246,7 @@ void initParams() {
 // TODO: CoInitializeEx on Windows?
 // TODO: add crash log
 int main(int argc, char** argv) {
+  backward::SignalHandling sh;
   initLog();
 #if !(defined(__APPLE__) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(ANDROID))
   // workaround for Wayland HiDPI issue
@@ -301,6 +306,12 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
     }
   }
 
+  if (!sh.loaded()) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    MessageBox(NULL,"Warning","crash backtrace not available!",MB_OK|MB_ICONWARNING);
+#endif
+  }
+
   e.setConsoleMode(consoleMode);
 
 #ifdef _WIN32