diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
index 8bcb0a424..0372b7684 100644
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ b/.appveyor.yml
@@ -42,9 +42,9 @@ test_script:
   - build\nimbus.exe --help
   - mingw32-make -j2 ARCH_OVERRIDE=%PLATFORM% test
   - IF "%PLATFORM%" == "x64" mingw32-make -j2 test-reproducibility
-  # disable libnimbus builds until https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/12759 is fixed
-  # wrapper builds could then also get activated instead but need some rework for Windows
-  # the "go-checks" target fails in AppVeyor, for some reason; easier to disable than to debug
+  # Disable libnimbus builds until https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/12759 is fixed.
+  # Wrapper builds could then also get activated instead but need some rework for Windows.
+  # The "go-checks" target fails in AppVeyor, for some reason; easier to disable than to debug.
   # - mingw32-make -j2 ARCH_OVERRIDE=%PLATFORM% DISABLE_GO_CHECKS=1 libnimbus.so
   # - mingw32-make -j2 ARCH_OVERRIDE=%PLATFORM% DISABLE_GO_CHECKS=1 libnimbus.a
   - mingw32-make -j2 ARCH_OVERRIDE=%PLATFORM% wakusim
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 967cdab0a..63dafad21 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -158,3 +158,8 @@
 	url = https://github.com/status-im/nim-evmc
   ignore = dirty
   branch = master
+[submodule "vendor/nim-libbacktrace"]
+	path = vendor/nim-libbacktrace
+	url = https://github.com/status-im/nim-libbacktrace.git
+	ignore = dirty
+	branch = master
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 660dfc5a8..c1b40384a 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ script:
   - make -j${NPROC} NIMFLAGS="--parallelBuild:${NPROC}" V=1 update # to allow a newer Nim version to be detected
   - make -j${NPROC} NIMFLAGS="--parallelBuild:${NPROC}"
   - build/nimbus --help
-  # -static option will not work for osx unless static system libraries are provided
+  # "-static" option will not work for osx unless static system libraries are provided
   - if [ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" = "osx" ]; then
       make -j${NPROC} NIMFLAGS="--parallelBuild:${NPROC}" test test-reproducibility wrappers wakusim;
     else
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5fbf81ee9..fc37691f4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -18,8 +18,11 @@ TOOLS := premix persist debug dumper hunter regress tracerTestGen persistBlockTe
 TOOLS_DIRS := premix tests waku
 # comma-separated values for the "clean" target
 TOOLS_CSV := $(subst $(SPACE),$(COMMA),$(TOOLS))
+# "--import" can't be added to config.nims, for some reason
+# "--define:release" implies "--stacktrace:off" and it cannot be added to config.nims either
+NIM_PARAMS := $(NIM_PARAMS) -d:release --import:libbacktrace
 
-.PHONY: all $(TOOLS) build-system-checks deps update nimbus test test-reproducibility clean libnimbus.so libnimbus.a wrappers wrappers-static
+.PHONY: all $(TOOLS) build-system-checks deps update nimbus test test-reproducibility clean libnimbus.so libnimbus.a wrappers wrappers-static libbacktrace
 
 # default target, because it's the first one that doesn't start with '.'
 all: build-system-checks $(TOOLS) nimbus
@@ -36,7 +39,7 @@ build-system-checks:
 		exit 1; \
 		}
 
-deps: | deps-common nimbus.nims
+deps: | deps-common nimbus.nims libbacktrace
 
 #- deletes and recreates "nimbus.nims" which on Windows is a copy instead of a proper symlink
 update: | update-common
@@ -58,6 +61,10 @@ nimbus: | build deps
 nimbus.nims:
 	ln -s nimbus.nimble $@
 
+# nim-libbacktrace
+libbacktrace:
+	+ $(MAKE) -C vendor/nim-libbacktrace
+
 # builds and runs the test suite
 test: | build deps
 	$(ENV_SCRIPT) nim test $(NIM_PARAMS) nimbus.nims
@@ -75,6 +82,7 @@ test-reproducibility:
 # usual cleaning
 clean: | clean-common
 	rm -rf build/{nimbus,$(TOOLS_CSV),all_tests,test_rpc,*_wrapper_test}
+	+ $(MAKE) -C vendor/nim-libbacktrace clean $(HANDLE_OUTPUT)
 
 libnimbus.so: | build deps
 	echo -e $(BUILD_MSG) "build/$@" && \
@@ -82,13 +90,15 @@ libnimbus.so: | build deps
 		rm -f build/$@ && \
 		ln -s $@.0 build/$@
 
+# libraries for dynamic linking of non-Nim objects
+EXTRA_LIBS_DYNAMIC := -L"$(CURDIR)/build" -lnimbus -lm
 wrappers: | build deps libnimbus.so go-checks
 	echo -e $(BUILD_MSG) "build/C_wrapper_example" && \
-		$(CC) wrappers/wrapper_example.c -Wl,-rpath,'$$ORIGIN' -Lbuild -lnimbus -lm -g -o build/C_wrapper_example
+		$(CC) wrappers/wrapper_example.c -Wl,-rpath,'$$ORIGIN' $(EXTRA_LIBS_DYNAMIC) -g -o build/C_wrapper_example
 	echo -e $(BUILD_MSG) "build/go_wrapper_example" && \
-		go build -o build/go_wrapper_example wrappers/wrapper_example.go wrappers/cfuncs.go
+		go build -ldflags "-linkmode external -extldflags '$(EXTRA_LIBS_DYNAMIC)'" -o build/go_wrapper_example wrappers/wrapper_example.go wrappers/cfuncs.go
 	echo -e $(BUILD_MSG) "build/go_wrapper_whisper_example" && \
-		go build -o build/go_wrapper_whisper_example wrappers/wrapper_whisper_example.go wrappers/cfuncs.go
+		go build -ldflags "-linkmode external -extldflags '$(EXTRA_LIBS_DYNAMIC)'" -o build/go_wrapper_whisper_example wrappers/wrapper_whisper_example.go wrappers/cfuncs.go
 
 libnimbus.a: | build deps
 	echo -e $(BUILD_MSG) "build/$@" && \
@@ -96,13 +106,25 @@ libnimbus.a: | build deps
 		$(ENV_SCRIPT) nim c --app:staticlib --noMain --nimcache:nimcache/libnimbus_static $(NIM_PARAMS) -o:build/$@ wrappers/libnimbus.nim && \
 		[[ -e "$@" ]] && mv "$@" build/ # workaround for https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/12745
 
+# These libraries are for statically linking non-Nim objects to libnimbus.a
+# (where "vendor/nim-libbacktrace/libbacktrace.nim" doesn't get to set its LDFLAGS)
+EXTRA_LIBS_STATIC := -L"$(CURDIR)/build" -lnimbus -L"$(CURDIR)/vendor/nim-libbacktrace/install/usr/lib" -lbacktracenim -lbacktrace -lm -ldl -lpcre
+ifeq ($(shell uname), Darwin)
+USE_VENDORED_LIBUNWIND := 1
+endif # macOS
+ifeq ($(OS), Windows_NT)
+USE_VENDORED_LIBUNWIND := 1
+endif # Windows
+ifeq ($(USE_VENDORED_LIBUNWIND), 1)
+EXTRA_LIBS_STATIC := $(EXTRA_LIBS_STATIC) -lunwind
+endif # USE_VENDORED_LIBUNWIND
 wrappers-static: | build deps libnimbus.a go-checks
 	echo -e $(BUILD_MSG) "build/C_wrapper_example_static" && \
-		$(CC) wrappers/wrapper_example.c -static -pthread -Lbuild -lnimbus -lm -ldl -lpcre -g -o build/C_wrapper_example_static
+		$(CC) wrappers/wrapper_example.c -static -pthread $(EXTRA_LIBS_STATIC) -g -o build/C_wrapper_example_static
 	echo -e $(BUILD_MSG) "build/go_wrapper_example_static" && \
-		go build -ldflags "-linkmode external -extldflags '-static -ldl -lpcre'" -o build/go_wrapper_example_static wrappers/wrapper_example.go wrappers/cfuncs.go
+		go build -ldflags "-linkmode external -extldflags '-static $(EXTRA_LIBS_STATIC)'" -o build/go_wrapper_example_static wrappers/wrapper_example.go wrappers/cfuncs.go
 	echo -e $(BUILD_MSG) "build/go_wrapper_whisper_example_static" && \
-		go build -ldflags "-linkmode external -extldflags '-static -ldl -lpcre'" -o build/go_wrapper_whisper_example_static wrappers/wrapper_example.go wrappers/cfuncs.go
+		go build -ldflags "-linkmode external -extldflags '-static $(EXTRA_LIBS_STATIC)'" -o build/go_wrapper_whisper_example_static wrappers/wrapper_whisper_example.go wrappers/cfuncs.go
 
 wakunode: | build deps
 	echo -e $(BUILD_MSG) "build/$@" && \
diff --git a/config.nims b/config.nims
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..62617f21d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config.nims
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+if defined(release):
+  switch("nimcache", "nimcache/release/$projectName")
+else:
+  switch("nimcache", "nimcache/debug/$projectName")
+
+if defined(windows):
+  # disable timestamps in Windows PE headers - https://wiki.debian.org/ReproducibleBuilds/TimestampsInPEBinaries
+  switch("passL", "-Wl,--no-insert-timestamp")
+  # increase stack size
+  switch("passL", "-Wl,--stack,8388608")
+  # https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/4057
+  --tlsEmulation:off
+  if defined(i386):
+    # set the IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE flag so we can use PAE, if enabled, and access more than 2 GiB of RAM
+    switch("passL", "-Wl,--large-address-aware")
+
+--threads:on
+--opt:speed
+--excessiveStackTrace:on
+# enable metric collection
+--define:metrics
+
+# the default open files limit is too low on macOS (512), breaking the
+# "--debugger:native" build. It can be increased with `ulimit -n 1024`.
+if not defined(macosx):
+  # add debugging symbols and original files and line numbers
+  --debugger:native
+  if not (defined(windows) and defined(i386)):
+    # light-weight stack traces using libbacktrace and libunwind
+    --define:nimStackTraceOverride
+    # "--import:libbacktrace" is added to NIM_PARAMS inside the Makefile,
+    # because it doesn't work in here ("Error: undeclared identifier: 'copyMem'", like it kicks in in some other NimScript file)
+
+--define:nimOldCaseObjects # https://github.com/status-im/nim-confutils/issues/9
+# libnimbus.so needs position-independent code
+switch("passC", "-fPIC")
+
diff --git a/nim.cfg b/nim.cfg
deleted file mode 100644
index a4082ac65..000000000
--- a/nim.cfg
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-@if release:
-  nimcache = "nimcache/release/$projectName"
-@else:
-  nimcache = "nimcache/debug/$projectName"
-@end
-
-@if windows:
-  # disable timestamps in Windows PE headers - https://wiki.debian.org/ReproducibleBuilds/TimestampsInPEBinaries
-  --passL:"-Wl,--no-insert-timestamp"
-  # increase stack size
-  --passL:"-Wl,--stack,8388608"
-  # https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/4057
-  --tlsEmulation:off
-  @if i386:
-    # set the IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE flag so we can use PAE, if enabled, and access more than 2 GiB of RAM
-    --passL:"-Wl,--large-address-aware"
-  @end
-@end
-
---threads:on
---opt:speed
---excessiveStackTrace:on
-# enable metric collection
--d:metrics
-
-# the default open files limit is too low on macOS (512), breaking the
-# "--debugger:native" build. It can be increased with `ulimit -n 1024`.
-@if not macosx:
-  # add debugging symbols and original files and line numbers
-  --debugger:native
-@end
-
--d:nimOldCaseObjects # https://github.com/status-im/nim-confutils/issues/9
-
diff --git a/nimbus.nimble b/nimbus.nimble
index 868f1d0bd..2e090d9e2 100644
--- a/nimbus.nimble
+++ b/nimbus.nimble
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ proc buildBinary(name: string, srcDir = "./", params = "", lang = "c") =
   exec "nim " & lang & " --out:build/" & name & " " & extra_params & " " & srcDir & name & ".nim"
 
 proc test(name: string, lang = "c") =
-  buildBinary name, "tests/", "-d:release -d:chronicles_log_level=ERROR"
+  buildBinary name, "tests/", "-d:chronicles_log_level=ERROR"
   exec "build/" & name
 
 task test, "Run tests":
diff --git a/vendor/nim-libbacktrace b/vendor/nim-libbacktrace
new file mode 160000
index 000000000..465cb67f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/nim-libbacktrace
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 465cb67f234e66064f146e79063a1bd82db11d3c
diff --git a/wrappers/wrapper_example.go b/wrappers/wrapper_example.go
index 65d22d886..a7b680009 100644
--- a/wrappers/wrapper_example.go
+++ b/wrappers/wrapper_example.go
@@ -7,11 +7,11 @@ import (
 	"unsafe"
 )
 
-
 /*
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
-#cgo LDFLAGS: -Wl,-rpath,'$ORIGIN' -L${SRCDIR}/../build -lnimbus -lm
+// Passing "-lnimbus" to the Go linker through "-extldflags" is not enough. We need it in here, for some reason.
+#cgo LDFLAGS: -Wl,-rpath,'$ORIGIN' -L${SRCDIR}/../build -lnimbus
 #include "libnimbus.h"
 
 void receiveHandler_cgo(received_message * msg); // Forward declaration.
diff --git a/wrappers/wrapper_whisper_example.go b/wrappers/wrapper_whisper_example.go
index 013da9319..333cbf4ed 100644
--- a/wrappers/wrapper_whisper_example.go
+++ b/wrappers/wrapper_whisper_example.go
@@ -1,18 +1,19 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
 	"runtime"
 	"time"
 	"unsafe"
-	"encoding/hex"
 )
 
 /*
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
 
-#cgo LDFLAGS: -Wl,-rpath,'$ORIGIN' -L${SRCDIR}/../build -lnimbus -lm
+// Passing "-lnimbus" to the Go linker through "-extldflags" is not enough. We need it in here, for some reason.
+#cgo LDFLAGS: -Wl,-rpath,'$ORIGIN' -L${SRCDIR}/../build -lnimbus
 #include "libnimbus.h"
 
 void receiveHandler_cgo(received_message * msg, void* udata); // Forward declaration.
@@ -88,12 +89,12 @@ func StatusListenAndPost(channel string) {
 
 	options := C.filter_options{symKeyID: symKeyIdC,
 		minPow: 0.002,
-		topic: C.nimbus_channel_to_topic(channelC).topic}
+		topic:  C.nimbus_channel_to_topic(channelC).topic}
 
 	tmp = C.malloc(C.size_t(C.ID_LEN))
 	if C.nimbus_subscribe_filter(&options,
-			(C.received_msg_handler)(unsafe.Pointer(C.receiveHandler_cgo)),
-			unsafe.Pointer(&msgCount), (*C.uint8_t)(tmp)) == false {
+		(C.received_msg_handler)(unsafe.Pointer(C.receiveHandler_cgo)),
+		unsafe.Pointer(&msgCount), (*C.uint8_t)(tmp)) == false {
 		C.free(unsafe.Pointer(tmp))
 		panic("Cannot subscribe filter")
 	}
@@ -103,11 +104,11 @@ func StatusListenAndPost(channel string) {
 		hex.EncodeToString(filterId))
 
 	postMessage := C.post_message{symKeyID: symKeyIdC,
-		sourceID: asymKeyIdC,
-		ttl: 20,
-		topic: C.nimbus_channel_to_topic(channelC).topic,
+		sourceID:  asymKeyIdC,
+		ttl:       20,
+		topic:     C.nimbus_channel_to_topic(channelC).topic,
 		powTarget: 0.002,
-		powTime: 1.0}
+		powTime:   1.0}
 
 	i := 0
 	for {