diff --git a/collects/meta/build/build b/collects/meta/build/build
index 692eeb3dae..a7872086ca 100755
--- a/collects/meta/build/build
+++ b/collects/meta/build/build
@@ -158,6 +158,8 @@ drtestscript="$scriptdir/test-drracket.rkt"
 bundlescript="$scriptdir/bundle"
 # web build script
 webscript="collects/meta/web/build.rkt"
+# status script
+statusscript="$scriptdir/current-build-status.cgi"
 # url mirrors file (relative to $maindir)
 knownmirrors="known-mirror-urls"
 # sitemap materials
@@ -2176,6 +2178,22 @@ BUILD_PRE_WEB() {
            > /dev/null
   fi
 
+  ## --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  # Make the status script available for use
+
+  if [[ "$prewebdir" = "$prewebdir_default" ]]; then
+    {
+      echo "#!/bin/bash"
+      local v
+      for v in tmpdir lockfile statusfile statusfile_last bglogfile; do
+        echo "$v=$(eval "\$$var")"
+      done
+      echo ""
+      cat "$PLTHOME/$statusscript"
+    } > "${prewebdir}/$(basename "$statusscript")"
+    chmod +x "${prewebdir}/$(basename "$statusscript")"
+  fi
+
 }
 
 
diff --git a/collects/meta/build/current-build-status.cgi b/collects/meta/build/current-build-status.cgi
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b1f0537d8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/collects/meta/build/current-build-status.cgi
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# these should be writable
+cache="/tmp/racket-build-status-cache"
+cachelock="$cache-lock"
+
+printf 'Content-type: text/plain\r\n\r\n'
+
+# cache status reports (avoids excessive work during builds)
+
+# use a lockfile as a cheap hack to time cache refreshing
+if ! lockfile -r 0 -l 5 -s 0 "$cachelock" && [[ -e "$cache" ]]; then
+  cat "$cache"; exit
+fi
+
+{
+
+files=""
+if [[ -e "$lockfile"        ]]; then L="Y";  else L="N";  fi
+if [[ -e "$statusfile"      ]]; then S="Y";  else S="N";  fi
+if [[ -e "$statusfile_last" ]]; then S1="Y"; else S1="N"; fi
+
+if [[ "$L$S" = "NY" ]]; then
+  printf 'Last build crashed abnormally.\n'
+elif [[ "$S" = "Y" ]]; then
+  printf 'Running: '; cat "$statusfile"
+  time_for_file() {
+    local t="$(($(date +"%s") - $(stat -c "%Z" "$1")))"
+    printf "%d:%02d:%02d" "$((t/3600))" "$(((t%3600)/60))" "$((t%60))"
+  }
+  printf "The build has been running for %s, current step for %s\n" \
+         "$(time_for_file "$lockfile")" "$(time_for_file "$statusfile")"
+  shopt -s nullglob
+  if [[ "x$(echo "$bglogfile"*)" != "x" ]]; then
+    printf '\n%s build jobs running:\n' "$(ls "$bglogfile"* | wc -l)"
+    for bg in "$bglogfile"*; do
+      printf '  %s: ' "${bg#$bglogfile-}"
+      s="$(grep "^### <<< .* >>>" "$bg" | tail -1 \
+           | sed -e 's/^### <<< \(.*\) >>>/\1/')"
+      if [[ "x$s" = "x" ]]; then echo "(just starting)"; else echo "$s"; fi
+    done
+  fi
+else
+  printf 'No build is running.\n'
+  if [[ "$S1" = "Y" ]]; then
+    last="$(cat "$statusfile_last")"
+    if [[ "x$last" = "xDone ("*")" ]]; then
+      last="${last#Done (}"
+      last="${last%)}"
+      printf 'Last build successfully ended at %s\n' "$last"
+    else
+      printf 'Last build was unsuccessful (while: %s)\n' "$last"
+    fi
+  fi
+  if [[ "$L" = "Y" ]]; then
+    printf '(Builds temporarily disabled)\n'
+  fi
+fi
+
+} > "$cache" 2>&1
+cat "$cache"