diff --git a/vlib/v/compiler_errors_test.v b/vlib/v/compiler_errors_test.v
index 55f6f72f41..2159903a70 100644
--- a/vlib/v/compiler_errors_test.v
+++ b/vlib/v/compiler_errors_test.v
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ fn test_all() {
 	global_run_dir := '$checker_dir/globals_run'
 	run_dir := '$checker_dir/run'
 	skip_unused_dir := 'vlib/v/tests/skip_unused'
+	trace_calls_dir := 'vlib/v/tests/trace_calls'
 	//
 	checker_tests := get_tests_in_dir(checker_dir, false)
 	parser_tests := get_tests_in_dir(parser_dir, false)
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ fn test_all() {
 	module_tests := get_tests_in_dir(module_dir, true)
 	run_tests := get_tests_in_dir(run_dir, false)
 	skip_unused_dir_tests := get_tests_in_dir(skip_unused_dir, false)
+	trace_calls_dir_tests := get_tests_in_dir(trace_calls_dir, false)
 	mut tasks := Tasks{
 		vexe: vexe
 		label: 'all tests'
@@ -113,6 +115,15 @@ fn test_all() {
 		skip_unused_tasks.add('', skip_unused_dir, '-d no_backtrace -skip-unused run',
 			'.skip_unused.run.out', skip_unused_dir_tests, false)
 		skip_unused_tasks.run()
+		//
+		mut trace_calls_tasks := Tasks{
+			vexe: vexe
+			parallel_jobs: 1
+			label: '-trace-calls tests'
+		}
+		trace_calls_tasks.add('', trace_calls_dir, '-trace-calls run', '.run.out', trace_calls_dir_tests,
+			false)
+		trace_calls_tasks.run()
 	}
 	//
 	if github_job == 'ubuntu-tcc' {
diff --git a/vlib/v/pref/pref.v b/vlib/v/pref/pref.v
index 5b2440957a..5e78944dd8 100644
--- a/vlib/v/pref/pref.v
+++ b/vlib/v/pref/pref.v
@@ -158,7 +158,8 @@ pub mut:
 	building_v         bool
 	autofree           bool // `v -manualfree` => false, `v -autofree` => true; false by default for now.
 	// Disabling `free()` insertion results in better performance in some applications (e.g. compilers)
-	compress bool // when set, use `upx` to compress the generated executable
+	trace_calls bool // -trace-calls true = the transformer stage will generate and inject print calls for tracing function calls
+	compress    bool // when set, use `upx` to compress the generated executable
 	// generating_vh    bool
 	no_builtin       bool   // Skip adding the `builtin` module implicitly. The generated C code may not compile.
 	enable_globals   bool   // allow __global for low level code
@@ -429,6 +430,9 @@ pub fn parse_args_and_show_errors(known_external_commands []string, args []strin
 				res.autofree = true
 				res.build_options << arg
 			}
+			'-trace-calls' {
+				res.trace_calls = true
+			}
 			'-manualfree' {
 				res.autofree = false
 				res.build_options << arg
diff --git a/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/simple.run.out b/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/simple.run.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d0bec344ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/simple.run.out
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+> trace fn main()
+> trace fn foo()
+> trace fn bar()
+> trace fn baz()
+> trace fn (b Boo) call_1()
+end
diff --git a/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/simple.vv b/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/simple.vv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..46b96fc5b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/simple.vv
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+module main
+
+fn C.test()
+
+struct Boo {}
+
+fn (b Boo) call_1() {}
+
+fn foo() {
+	bar()
+}
+
+fn bar() {
+	baz()
+}
+
+fn baz() {
+	boo := Boo{}
+	boo.call_1()
+}
+
+fn main() {
+	foo()
+	eprintln('end')
+}
diff --git a/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/with_modules.run.out b/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/with_modules.run.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1c88b09c9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/with_modules.run.out
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+> trace fn init_os_args(argc int, argv &&u8) []string
+> trace pub fn getwd() string
+> trace fn main()
+> trace fn f1()
+> trace fn f2()
+> trace fn f3()
+> trace pub fn join_path(base string, dirs ...string) string
+end
diff --git a/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/with_modules.vv b/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/with_modules.vv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e01acbd9b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vlib/v/tests/trace_calls/with_modules.vv
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+module main
+
+import os
+
+fn f1() {
+	f2()
+}
+
+fn f2() {
+	f3()
+}
+
+fn f3() {
+	_ := os.join_path('1', '2', '3')
+}
+
+fn main() {
+	f1()
+	eprintln('end')
+}
diff --git a/vlib/v/transformer/transformer.v b/vlib/v/transformer/transformer.v
index ccd576f0ff..73951bf5ba 100644
--- a/vlib/v/transformer/transformer.v
+++ b/vlib/v/transformer/transformer.v
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ pub fn (mut t Transformer) stmt(mut node ast.Stmt) ast.Stmt {
 			}
 		}
 		ast.FnDecl {
+			t.fn_decl(mut node)
 			t.index.indent(true)
 			for mut stmt in node.stmts {
 				stmt = t.stmt(mut stmt)
@@ -1034,3 +1035,51 @@ pub fn (mut t Transformer) sql_expr(mut node ast.SqlExpr) ast.Expr {
 	}
 	return node
 }
+
+// fn_decl mutates `node`.
+// if `pref.trace_calls` is true ast Nodes for `eprintln(...)` is prepended to the `FnDecl`'s
+// stmts list to let the gen backend generate the target specific code for the print.
+pub fn (mut t Transformer) fn_decl(mut node ast.FnDecl) {
+	if t.pref.trace_calls {
+		// Skip `C.fn()` and all of builtin
+		// builtin could probably be traced also but would need
+		// special cases for, at least, println/eprintln
+		if node.no_body || node.is_builtin {
+			return
+		}
+		call_expr := t.gen_trace_print_call_expr(node)
+		expr_stmt := ast.ExprStmt{
+			expr: call_expr
+		}
+		node.stmts.prepend(expr_stmt)
+	}
+}
+
+// gen_trace_print_expr_stmt generates an ast.CallExpr representation of a
+// `eprint(...)` V code statement.
+fn (t Transformer) gen_trace_print_call_expr(node ast.FnDecl) ast.CallExpr {
+	print_str := '> trace ' + node.stringify(t.table, node.mod, map[string]string{})
+
+	call_arg := ast.CallArg{
+		expr: ast.StringLiteral{
+			val: print_str
+		}
+		typ: ast.string_type_idx
+	}
+	args := [call_arg]
+
+	fn_name := 'eprintln'
+	call_expr := ast.CallExpr{
+		name: fn_name
+		args: args
+		mod: node.mod
+		pos: node.pos
+		language: node.language
+		scope: node.scope
+		comments: [ast.Comment{
+			text: 'fn $node.short_name trace call'
+		}]
+	}
+
+	return call_expr
+}