diff --git a/be/src/common/init.cc b/be/src/common/init.cc
index 1de33ae70..9b050091d 100644
--- a/be/src/common/init.cc
+++ b/be/src/common/init.cc
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include "util/logging-support.h"
 #include "util/mem-info.h"
 #include "util/network-util.h"
+#include "util/os-info.h"
 #include "rpc/thrift-util.h"
 #include "util/thread.h"
 
@@ -43,10 +44,12 @@ void impala::InitCommonRuntime(int argc, char** argv, bool init_jvm) {
   CpuInfo::Init();
   DiskInfo::Init();
   MemInfo::Init();
+  OsInfo::Init();
 
   LOG(INFO) << CpuInfo::DebugString();
   LOG(INFO) << DiskInfo::DebugString();
   LOG(INFO) << MemInfo::DebugString();
+  LOG(INFO) << OsInfo::DebugString();
 
   if (init_jvm) {
     EXIT_IF_ERROR(JniUtil::Init());
diff --git a/be/src/util/CMakeLists.txt b/be/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
index 25580b366..207e52d4c 100644
--- a/be/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/be/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ add_library(Util
   mem-info.cc
   metrics.cc
   network-util.cc
+  os-info.cc
   parse-util.cc
   path-builder.cc
   periodic-counter-updater
diff --git a/be/src/util/os-info.cc b/be/src/util/os-info.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9417a978f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/be/src/util/os-info.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// Copyright 2012 Cloudera Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#include "util/os-info.h"
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <sstream>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+using namespace std;
+
+namespace impala {
+
+bool OsInfo::initialized_ = false;
+string OsInfo::os_version_ = "Unknown";
+
+void OsInfo::Init() {
+  DCHECK(!initialized_);
+  // Read from /proc/version
+  ifstream version("/proc/version", ios::in);
+  if (version.good()) getline(version, os_version_);
+  if (version.is_open()) version.close();
+  initialized_ = true;
+}
+
+string OsInfo::DebugString() {
+  DCHECK(initialized_);
+  stringstream stream;
+  stream << "OS version: " << os_version_ << endl;
+  return stream.str();
+}
+
+}
diff --git a/be/src/util/os-info.h b/be/src/util/os-info.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1344467d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/be/src/util/os-info.h
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// Copyright 2012 Cloudera Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#ifndef IMPALA_UTIL_OS_INFO_H
+#define IMPALA_UTIL_OS_INFO_H
+
+#include <string>
+#include "common/logging.h"
+
+namespace impala {
+
+// Provides information about the OS we're running on.
+class OsInfo {
+ public:
+  // Initialize OsInfo.
+  static void Init();
+
+  static const std::string os_version() {
+    DCHECK(initialized_);
+    return os_version_;
+  }
+
+  static std::string DebugString();
+
+ private:
+  static bool initialized_;
+  static std::string os_version_;
+};
+
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/be/src/util/webserver.cc b/be/src/util/webserver.cc
index 349a546c6..f1a2f50dd 100644
--- a/be/src/util/webserver.cc
+++ b/be/src/util/webserver.cc
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "util/cpu-info.h"
 #include "util/disk-info.h"
 #include "util/mem-info.h"
+#include "util/os-info.h"
 #include "util/url-coding.h"
 #include "util/logging.h"
 #include "util/debug-util.h"
@@ -108,6 +109,10 @@ void Webserver::RootHandler(const Webserver::ArgumentMap& args, stringstream* ou
   (*output) << MemInfo::DebugString();
   (*output) << DiskInfo::DebugString();
   (*output) << "</pre>";
+  (*output) << "<h2>OS Info</h2>";
+  (*output) << "<pre>";
+  (*output) << OsInfo::DebugString();
+  (*output) << "</pre>";
 
   (*output) << "<h2>Status Pages</h2>";
   BOOST_FOREACH(const PathHandlerMap::value_type& handler, path_handlers_) {