diff --git a/Kconfig b/Kconfig
index b7a1ac4e6db..3641b60b936 100644
--- a/Kconfig
+++ b/Kconfig
@@ -244,6 +244,15 @@ config APPS_DIR
 		example, to include makefile fragments (e.g., .config or Make.defs)
 		or to set up include file paths.
 
+config BASE_DEFCONFIG
+		string "Base Configuration"
+		default ""
+		---help---
+			This will be automatically be updated by the configuration
+			script. This is the base configuration file that was used to create the
+			current configuration. It is useful for getting the current configuration
+			on runtime.
+
 config BUILD_LOADABLE
 	bool
 	option modules
diff --git a/tools/Unix.mk b/tools/Unix.mk
index fbef72124aa..879ec7b865e 100644
--- a/tools/Unix.mk
+++ b/tools/Unix.mk
@@ -248,6 +248,13 @@ tools/mkconfig$(HOSTEXEEXT):
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) -C tools -f Makefile.host mkconfig$(HOSTEXEEXT)
 
 include/nuttx/config.h: $(TOPDIR)/.config tools/mkconfig$(HOSTEXEEXT)
+	$(Q) grep -v "CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG" "$(TOPDIR)/.config" > "$(TOPDIR)/.config.tmp"
+	$(Q) if ! cmp -s "$(TOPDIR)/.config.tmp" "$(TOPDIR)/.config.orig" ; then \
+		sed -i.bak "/CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG/s/\"$$/-dirty\"/" "$(TOPDIR)/.config"; \
+	else \
+		sed -i.bak "s/-dirty//g" "$(TOPDIR)/.config"; \
+	fi
+	$(Q) rm -f "$(TOPDIR)/.config.tmp" "$(TOPDIR)/.config.bak"
 	$(Q) tools/mkconfig $(TOPDIR) > $@.tmp
 	$(Q) $(call TESTANDREPLACEFILE, $@.tmp, $@)
 
@@ -685,6 +692,7 @@ gconfig: apps_preconfig
 savedefconfig: apps_preconfig
 	$(Q) ${KCONFIG_ENV} ${KCONFIG_SAVEDEFCONFIG}
 	$(Q) $(call kconfig_tweak_disable,defconfig.tmp,CONFIG_APPS_DIR)
+	$(Q) $(call kconfig_tweak_disable,defconfig.tmp,CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG)
 	$(Q) grep "CONFIG_ARCH=" .config >> defconfig.tmp
 	$(Q) grep "^CONFIG_ARCH_CHIP_" .config >> defconfig.tmp; true
 	$(Q) grep "CONFIG_ARCH_CHIP=" .config >> defconfig.tmp; true
@@ -763,6 +771,7 @@ endif
 	$(call DELFILE, defconfig)
 	$(call DELFILE, .config)
 	$(call DELFILE, .config.old)
+	$(call DELFILE, .config.orig)
 	$(call DELFILE, .gdbinit)
 
 # Application housekeeping targets.  The APPDIR variable refers to the user
diff --git a/tools/Win.mk b/tools/Win.mk
index 6a400278c5b..55e68b767da 100644
--- a/tools/Win.mk
+++ b/tools/Win.mk
@@ -235,6 +235,15 @@ tools\mkconfig$(HOSTEXEEXT):
 	$(Q) $(MAKE) -C tools -f Makefile.host mkconfig$(HOSTEXEEXT)
 
 include\nuttx\config.h: $(TOPDIR)\.config tools\mkconfig$(HOSTEXEEXT)
+	$(Q) grep -v "CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG" "$(TOPDIR)\.config" > "$(TOPDIR)\.config.tmp"
+# In-place edit can mess up permissions on Windows
+	$(Q) if ! cmp -s "$(TOPDIR)\.config.tmp" "$(TOPDIR)\.config.orig" ; then \
+		sed "/CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG/s/\"$$/-dirty\"/" "$(TOPDIR)\.config" > "$(TOPDIR)\.config-temp"; \
+	else \
+		sed "s/-dirty//g" "$(TOPDIR)\.config" > "$(TOPDIR)\.config-temp"; \
+	fi
+	$(Q) mv -f "$(TOPDIR)\.config-temp" "$(TOPDIR)\.config"
+	$(Q) rm -f "$(TOPDIR)\.config.tmp"
 	$(Q) tools\mkconfig$(HOSTEXEEXT) $(TOPDIR) > include\nuttx\config.h
 
 # Targets used to create dependencies
@@ -606,6 +615,7 @@ nconfig:
 savedefconfig: apps_preconfig
 	$(Q) ${KCONFIG_ENV} kconfig-conf --savedefconfig defconfig.tmp Kconfig
 	$(Q) kconfig-tweak --file defconfig.tmp -u CONFIG_APPS_DIR
+	$(Q) kconfig-tweak --file defconfig.tmp -u CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG
 	$(Q) grep "CONFIG_ARCH=" .config >> defconfig.tmp
 	-$(Q) grep "^CONFIG_ARCH_CHIP_" .config >> defconfig.tmp
 	-$(Q) grep "CONFIG_ARCH_CHIP=" .config >> defconfig.tmp
@@ -684,6 +694,7 @@ endif
 	$(call DELFILE, defconfig)
 	$(call DELFILE, .config)
 	$(call DELFILE, .config.old)
+	$(call DELFILE, .config.orig)
 
 # Application housekeeping targets.  The APPDIR variable refers to the user
 # application directory.  A sample apps\ directory is included with NuttX,
diff --git a/tools/configure.c b/tools/configure.c
index ccdb096eae6..958fbf04b50 100644
--- a/tools/configure.c
+++ b/tools/configure.c
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ static void disable_feature(const char *destconfig, const char *varname);
 static void set_host(const char *destconfig);
 static void configure(void);
 static void refresh(void);
+static void save_original_config(void);
 
 /****************************************************************************
  * Private Data
@@ -1503,6 +1504,7 @@ static void configure(void)
     {
       FILE *stream;
       char *appdir = strdup(g_appdir);
+      char *boardcfg = strdup(g_boarddir);
 
       /* One complexity is if we are using Windows paths, but the
        * configuration needs POSIX paths (or vice versa).
@@ -1555,13 +1557,17 @@ static void configure(void)
       if (!stream)
         {
           fprintf(stderr,
-                  "ERROR: Failed to open %s for append mode mode: %s\n",
+                  "ERROR: Failed to open %s for append mode: %s\n",
                   destconfig, strerror(errno));
           exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
         }
 
       fprintf(stream, "\n# Application configuration\n\n");
       fprintf(stream, "CONFIG_APPS_DIR=\"%s\"\n", appdir);
+
+      substitute(boardcfg, '\\', '/');
+      fprintf(stream, "CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG=\"%s\"\n", boardcfg);
+
       fclose(stream);
       free(appdir);
     }
@@ -1590,6 +1596,37 @@ static void refresh(void)
     }
 }
 
+static void save_original_config(void)
+{
+  snprintf(g_buffer, BUFFER_SIZE, "%s%c.config", g_topdir, g_delim);
+  char *source_config = strdup(g_buffer);
+  snprintf(g_buffer, BUFFER_SIZE, "%s%c.config.orig", g_topdir, g_delim);
+  char *dest_config = strdup(g_buffer);
+
+  FILE *src_file = fopen(source_config, "r");
+  FILE *dest_file = fopen(dest_config, "w");
+
+  if (src_file == NULL || dest_file == NULL)
+    {
+      fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: Failed to open files\n");
+      exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
+
+  debug("save_original_config: Copying from %s to %s\n",
+        source_config, dest_config);
+
+  while (fgets(g_buffer, BUFFER_SIZE, src_file) != NULL)
+    {
+      if (strstr(g_buffer, "CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG") == NULL)
+        {
+          fputs(g_buffer, dest_file);
+        }
+    }
+
+  fclose(src_file);
+  fclose(dest_file);
+}
+
 /****************************************************************************
  * Public Functions
  ****************************************************************************/
@@ -1621,5 +1658,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
   debug("main: Refresh configuration\n");
   refresh();
+
+  debug("main: Save original configuration\n");
+  save_original_config();
   return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }
diff --git a/tools/configure.sh b/tools/configure.sh
index 5551eebcd0d..04344a28b18 100755
--- a/tools/configure.sh
+++ b/tools/configure.sh
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ fi
 
 src_config=${configpath}/defconfig
 dest_config="${TOPDIR}/.config"
+original_config="${TOPDIR}/.config.orig"
 backup_config="${TOPDIR}/defconfig"
 
 if [ ! -r ${src_config} ]; then
@@ -303,7 +304,17 @@ if [ "X${defappdir}" = "Xy" ]; then
   fi
 fi
 
+# Update the CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG setting
+
+posboardconfig=`echo "${boardconfig}" | sed -e 's/\\\\/\\//g'`
+echo "CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG=\"$posboardconfig\"" >> "${dest_config}"
+
 # The saved defconfig files are all in compressed format and must be
 # reconstitued before they can be used.
 
 ${TOPDIR}/tools/sethost.sh $host $*
+
+# Save the original configuration file without CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG
+# for later comparison
+
+grep -v "CONFIG_BASE_DEFCONFIG" "${dest_config}" > "${original_config}"