diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 2c70896..d40257a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -251,6 +251,9 @@
   else()
     message(WARNING "LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC_ABI_LIBRARY is an experimental option")
   endif()
+  if (LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC AND NOT PYTHONINTERP_FOUND)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC_ABI_LIBRARY requires python but it was not found.")
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 if (LIBCXX_ENABLE_ABI_LINKER_SCRIPT)
diff --git a/lib/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
index 1e7c6d4..6beb59f 100644
--- a/lib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -193,6 +193,28 @@
       OUTPUT_NAME   "c++"
   )
   list(APPEND LIBCXX_TARGETS "cxx_static")
+  # Attempt to merge the libc++.a archive and the ABI library archive into one.
+  if (LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC_ABI_LIBRARY)
+    set(MERGE_ARCHIVES_SEARCH_PATHS "")
+    if (LIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY_PATH)
+      set(MERGE_ARCHIVES_SEARCH_PATHS "-L${LIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY_PATH}")
+    endif()
+    if (TARGET ${LIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY})
+      set(MERGE_ARCHIVES_ABI_TARGET "$<TARGET_LINKER_FILE:${LIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY}>")
+    else()
+      set(MERGE_ARCHIVES_ABI_TARGET "lib${LIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY}.a")
+    endif()
+    add_custom_command(TARGET cxx_static POST_BUILD
+    COMMAND
+      ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} ${LIBCXX_SOURCE_DIR}/utils/merge_archives.py
+    ARGS
+      -o $<TARGET_LINKER_FILE:cxx_static>
+      "$<TARGET_LINKER_FILE:cxx_static>"
+      "${MERGE_ARCHIVES_ABI_TARGET}"
+      "${MERGE_ARCHIVES_SEARCH_PATHS}"
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${LIBCXX_BUILD_DIR}
+    )
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 # Add a meta-target for both libraries.
diff --git a/utils/merge_archives.py b/utils/merge_archives.py
index b8ba316..856dd3b 100755
--- a/utils/merge_archives.py
+++ b/utils/merge_archives.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #===----------------------------------------------------------------------===##
 
 from argparse import ArgumentParser
+from ctypes.util import find_library
 import distutils.spawn
 import glob
 import tempfile
@@ -28,9 +29,18 @@
     sys.stderr.write(msg + '\n')
     exit_with_cleanups(1)
 
-def diagnose_missing(file):
-    if not os.path.exists(file):
-        print_and_exit("input '%s' does not exist" % file)
+def find_and_diagnose_missing(lib, search_paths):
+    if os.path.exists(lib):
+        return os.path.abspath(lib)
+    if not lib.startswith('lib') or not lib.endswith('.a'):
+        print_and_exit(("input file '%s' not not name a static library. "
+                       "It should start with 'lib' and end with '.a") % lib)
+    for sp in search_paths:
+        assert type(sp) is list and len(sp) == 1
+        path = os.path.join(sp[0], lib)
+        if os.path.exists(path):
+            return os.path.abspath(path)
+    print_and_exit("input '%s' does not exist" % lib)
 
 
 def execute_command(cmd, cwd=None):
@@ -80,6 +90,10 @@
         help='The output file. stdout is used if not given',
         type=str, action='store')
     parser.add_argument(
+        '-L', dest='search_paths',
+        help='Paths to search for the libraries along', action='append',
+        nargs=1)
+    parser.add_argument(
         'archives', metavar='archives',  nargs='+',
         help='The archives to merge')
 
@@ -91,12 +105,9 @@
 
     if len(args.archives) < 2:
         print_and_exit('fewer than 2 inputs provided')
-    archives = []
-    for ar in args.archives:
-        diagnose_missing(ar)
-        # Make the path absolute so it isn't affected when we change the PWD.
-        archives += [os.path.abspath(ar)]
-
+    archives = [find_and_diagnose_missing(ar, args.search_paths)
+                for ar in args.archives]
+    print ('Merging archives: %s' % archives)
     if not os.path.exists(os.path.dirname(args.output)):
         print_and_exit("output path doesn't exist: '%s'" % args.output)