diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index a3a653c70..4d87132d4 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -6,6 +6,14 @@
 
                                   Changelog
 
+Daniel (2 May 2006)
+- Added a --checkfor option to curl-config to allow users to easier 
+  write for example shell scripts that test for the presence of a 
+  new-enough libcurl version. If --checkfor is given a version string 
+  newer than what is currently installed, curl-config will return a 
+  non-zero exit code and output a string about the unfulfilled 
+  requirement.
+
 Daniel (26 April 2006)
 - David McCreedy brought initial line end conversions when doing FTP ASCII
   transfers. They are done on non-windows systems and translate CRLF to LF.
diff --git a/RELEASE-NOTES b/RELEASE-NOTES
index 25b53b44f..810ffda92 100644
--- a/RELEASE-NOTES
+++ b/RELEASE-NOTES
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ Curl and libcurl 7.15.4
 
 This release includes the following changes:
 
+ o curl-config got a --checkfor option to compare version numbers
  o line end conversions for FTP ASCII transfers
  o curl_multi_socket() API added (still mostly untested)
  o conversion callback options for EBCDIC <=> ASCII conversions
@@ -45,6 +46,6 @@ advice from friends like these:
 
  Dan Fandrich, Ilja van Sprundel, David McCreedy, Tor Arntsen, Xavier Bouchoux,
  David Byron, Michele Bini, Ates Goral, Katie Wang, Robson Braga Araujo,
- Ale Vesely, Paul Querna
+ Ale Vesely, Paul Querna, Gisle Vanem
 
         Thanks! (and sorry if I forgot to mention someone)
diff --git a/curl-config.in b/curl-config.in
index 8f89049ca..aaffda820 100644
--- a/curl-config.in
+++ b/curl-config.in
@@ -1,10 +1,30 @@
 #! /bin/sh
+#***************************************************************************
+#                                  _   _ ____  _
+#  Project                     ___| | | |  _ \| |
+#                             / __| | | | |_) | |
+#                            | (__| |_| |  _ <| |___
+#                             \___|\___/|_| \_\_____|
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2001 - 2006, Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
+#
+# This software is licensed as described in the file COPYING, which
+# you should have received as part of this distribution. The terms
+# are also available at http://curl.haxx.se/docs/copyright.html.
+#
+# You may opt to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute and/or sell
+# copies of the Software, and permit persons to whom the Software is
+# furnished to do so, under the terms of the COPYING file.
+#
+# This software is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.
+#
+# $Id$
+###########################################################################
 #
 # The idea to this kind of setup info script was stolen from numerous
 # other packages, such as neon, libxml and gnome.
 #
-# $Id$
-#
 prefix=@prefix@
 exec_prefix=@exec_prefix@
 includedir=@includedir@
@@ -19,6 +39,7 @@ Available values for OPTION include:
   --ca        ca bundle install path
   --cc        compiler
   --cflags    pre-processor and compiler flags
+  --checkfor [version] check for (lib)curl of the specified version
   --features  newline separated list of enabled features
   --protocols newline separated list of enabled protocols
   --help      display this help and exit
@@ -122,6 +143,26 @@ while test $# -gt 0; do
 	exit 0
 	;;
 
+    --checkfor)
+        checkfor=$2
+        cmajor=`echo $checkfor | cut -d. -f1`
+        cminor=`echo $checkfor | cut -d. -f2`
+        # when extracting the patch part we strip off everything after a
+	# dash as that's used for things like version 1.2.3-CVS
+	cpatch=`echo $checkfor | cut -d. -f3 | cut -d- -f1`
+        checknum=`echo "$cmajor*256*256 + $cminor*256 + ${cpatch:-0}" | bc`
+        numuppercase=`echo @VERSIONNUM@ | tr 'a-f' 'A-F'`
+        nownum=`echo "obase=10; ibase=16; $numuppercase" | bc`
+
+	if test "$nownum" -ge "$checknum"; then
+	  # silent success
+	  exit 0
+	else
+	  echo "requested version $checkfor is newer than existing @VERSION@"
+	  exit 1
+	fi
+	;;
+
     --vernum)
 	echo @VERSIONNUM@
 	exit 0
diff --git a/docs/curl-config.1 b/docs/curl-config.1
index 8ac77dbe4..066169874 100644
--- a/docs/curl-config.1
+++ b/docs/curl-config.1
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 .\" *                            | (__| |_| |  _ <| |___
 .\" *                             \___|\___/|_| \_\_____|
 .\" *
-.\" * Copyright (C) 1998 - 2005, Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
+.\" * Copyright (C) 1998 - 2006, Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
 .\" *
 .\" * This software is licensed as described in the file COPYING, which
 .\" * you should have received as part of this distribution. The terms
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 .\" * $Id$
 .\" **************************************************************************
 .\"
-.TH curl-config 1 "25 Jan 2004" "Curl 7.13.0" "curl-config manual"
+.TH curl-config 1 "25 Jan 2004" "Curl 7.15.4" "curl-config manual"
 .SH NAME
 curl-config \- Get information about a libcurl installation
 .SH SYNOPSIS
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ Displays the compiler used to build libcurl.
 .IP "--cflags"
 Set of compiler options (CFLAGS) to use when compiling files that use
 libcurl. Currently that is only thw include path to the curl include files.
+.IP "--checkfor [version]"
+Specify the oldest possible libcurl version string you want, and this 
+script will return 0 if the current installation is new enough or it 
+returns 1 and outputs a text saying that the current version is not new 
+enough. (Added in 7.15.4)
 .IP "--feature"
 Lists what particular main features the installed libcurl was built with. At
 the time of writing, this list may include SSL, KRB4 or IPv6. Do not assume