diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d5ef24514..f9da7ca7f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -133,14 +133,25 @@ endif()
 link_directories(${LLVM_LIBRARY_DIR} ${YAML_CPP_LIBRARY_DIR})
 
 #
-# Setup libdw and libunwind
+# Setup backward-cpp, libdw and libunwind
 #
-if(LINUX AND (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Debug))
+if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Debug)
+    set(CLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE_DEFAULT ON)
+else()
+    set(CLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE_DEFAULT OFF)
+endif()
+option(CLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE "Enable backtrace on segfault"
+        ${CLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE_DEFAULT})
+
+if(LINUX AND CLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE)
     find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
     pkg_check_modules(DW REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET libdw)
     pkg_check_modules(UNWIND REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET libunwind)
     set(BACKWARD_CPP_LIBRARIES PkgConfig::DW PkgConfig::UNWIND)
     set(ENABLE_BACKWARD_CPP -DENABLE_BACKWARD_CPP)
+    message(STATUS "Enabling backward-cpp")
+else()
+    message(STATUS "Disabling backward-cpp")
 endif()
 
 #
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 51a20559a..871630f0f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ clean:
 	rm -rf debug release debug_tidy coverage.info coverage-src.info
 
 debug/CMakeLists.txt:
+	$(eval CLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE ?= ON)
 	cmake -S . -B debug \
 		-G"$(CMAKE_GENERATOR)" \
 		-DGIT_VERSION=$(GIT_VERSION) \
@@ -67,9 +68,11 @@ debug/CMakeLists.txt:
 		-DCMAKE_PREFIX=${CMAKE_PREFIX} \
 		-DENABLE_CUDA_TEST_CASES=$(ENABLE_CUDA_TEST_CASES) \
 		-DENABLE_CXX_MODULES_TEST_CASES=$(ENABLE_CXX_MODULES_TEST_CASES) \
-		-DCODE_COVERAGE=$(CODE_COVERAGE)
+		-DCODE_COVERAGE=$(CODE_COVERAGE) \
+		-DCLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE=$(CLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE)
 
 release/CMakeLists.txt:
+	$(eval CLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE ?= OFF)
 	cmake -S . -B release \
 		-G"$(CMAKE_GENERATOR)" \
 		-DGIT_VERSION=$(GIT_VERSION) \
@@ -82,7 +85,8 @@ release/CMakeLists.txt:
 		-DLINK_LLVM_SHARED=${LLVM_SHARED} \
 		-DCMAKE_PREFIX=${CMAKE_PREFIX} \
 		-DENABLE_CUDA_TEST_CASES=$(ENABLE_CUDA_TEST_CASES) \
-		-DENABLE_CXX_MODULES_TEST_CASES=$(ENABLE_CXX_MODULES_TEST_CASES)
+		-DENABLE_CXX_MODULES_TEST_CASES=$(ENABLE_CXX_MODULES_TEST_CASES) \
+		-DCLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE=$(CLANG_UML_ENABLE_BACKTRACE)
 
 debug_tidy/CMakeLists.txt:
 	cmake -S . -B debug_tidy \