diff --git a/src/all_types.hpp b/src/all_types.hpp
index f15756ebf..ebeaa2ac7 100644
--- a/src/all_types.hpp
+++ b/src/all_types.hpp
@@ -998,6 +998,7 @@ enum BuiltinFnId {
     BuiltinFnIdCInclude,
     BuiltinFnIdCDefine,
     BuiltinFnIdCUndef,
+    BuiltinFnIdCompileVar,
 };
 
 struct BuiltinFnEntry {
@@ -1058,6 +1059,7 @@ struct CodeGen {
 
     LLVMTargetDataRef target_data_ref;
     unsigned pointer_size_bytes;
+    bool is_big_endian;
     bool is_static;
     bool strip_debug_symbols;
     bool have_exported_main;
diff --git a/src/analyze.cpp b/src/analyze.cpp
index 480f0c7b3..e51d72389 100644
--- a/src/analyze.cpp
+++ b/src/analyze.cpp
@@ -3896,7 +3896,7 @@ static TypeTableEntry *analyze_builtin_fn_call_expr(CodeGen *g, ImportTableEntry
                     uint64_t big_c = char_val->data.x_bignum.data.x_uint;
                     assert(big_c <= UINT8_MAX);
                     uint8_t c = big_c;
-                    buf_appendf(context->c_import_buf, "%c", c);
+                    buf_append_char(context->c_import_buf, c);
                 }
                 buf_appendf(context->c_import_buf, ">\n");
 
@@ -3907,6 +3907,50 @@ static TypeTableEntry *analyze_builtin_fn_call_expr(CodeGen *g, ImportTableEntry
         case BuiltinFnIdCUndef:
             zig_panic("TODO");
 
+        case BuiltinFnIdCompileVar:
+            {
+                AstNode **str_node = node->data.fn_call_expr.params.at(0)->parent_field;
+
+                TypeTableEntry *str_type = get_unknown_size_array_type(g, g->builtin_types.entry_u8, true);
+                TypeTableEntry *resolved_type = analyze_expression(g, import, context, str_type, *str_node);
+
+                if (resolved_type->id == TypeTableEntryIdInvalid) {
+                    return resolved_type;
+                }
+
+                ConstExprValue *const_str_val = &get_resolved_expr(*str_node)->const_val;
+
+                if (!const_str_val->ok) {
+                    add_node_error(g, *str_node, buf_sprintf("@compile_var requires constant expression"));
+                    return g->builtin_types.entry_void;
+                }
+
+                ConstExprValue *ptr_field = const_str_val->data.x_struct.fields[0];
+                uint64_t len = ptr_field->data.x_ptr.len;
+                Buf var_name = BUF_INIT;
+                buf_resize(&var_name, 0);
+                for (uint64_t i = 0; i < len; i += 1) {
+                    ConstExprValue *char_val = ptr_field->data.x_ptr.ptr[i];
+                    uint64_t big_c = char_val->data.x_bignum.data.x_uint;
+                    assert(big_c <= UINT8_MAX);
+                    uint8_t c = big_c;
+                    buf_append_char(&var_name, c);
+                }
+
+                ConstExprValue *const_val = &get_resolved_expr(node)->const_val;
+                const_val->depends_on_compile_var = true;
+
+                if (buf_eql_str(&var_name, "is_big_endian")) {
+                    return resolve_expr_const_val_as_bool(g, node, g->is_big_endian);
+                } else {
+                    add_node_error(g, *str_node,
+                        buf_sprintf("unrecognized compile variable: '%s'", buf_ptr(&var_name)));
+                    return g->builtin_types.entry_invalid;
+                }
+
+                break;
+            }
+
     }
     zig_unreachable();
 }
diff --git a/src/codegen.cpp b/src/codegen.cpp
index abcfbd096..335f0319f 100644
--- a/src/codegen.cpp
+++ b/src/codegen.cpp
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ static LLVMValueRef gen_builtin_fn_call_expr(CodeGen *g, AstNode *node) {
         case BuiltinFnIdMinValue:
         case BuiltinFnIdMaxValue:
         case BuiltinFnIdMemberCount:
+        case BuiltinFnIdCompileVar:
             // caught by constant expression eval codegen
             zig_unreachable();
     }
@@ -3221,6 +3222,7 @@ static void define_builtin_fns(CodeGen *g) {
     create_builtin_fn_with_arg_count(g, BuiltinFnIdCInclude, "c_include", 1);
     create_builtin_fn_with_arg_count(g, BuiltinFnIdCDefine, "c_define", 2);
     create_builtin_fn_with_arg_count(g, BuiltinFnIdCUndef, "c_undef", 1);
+    create_builtin_fn_with_arg_count(g, BuiltinFnIdCompileVar, "compile_var", 1);
 }
 
 
@@ -3267,6 +3269,7 @@ static void init(CodeGen *g, Buf *source_path) {
 
 
     g->pointer_size_bytes = LLVMPointerSize(g->target_data_ref);
+    g->is_big_endian = (LLVMByteOrder(g->target_data_ref) == LLVMBigEndian);
 
     g->builder = LLVMCreateBuilder();
     g->dbuilder = LLVMZigCreateDIBuilder(g->module, true);
diff --git a/test/run_tests.cpp b/test/run_tests.cpp
index dd5f08527..14856b7ab 100644
--- a/test/run_tests.cpp
+++ b/test/run_tests.cpp
@@ -2033,6 +2033,11 @@ fn func() -> bogus {}
     )SOURCE", 2,
             ".tmp_source.zig:3:1: error: redefinition of 'func'",
             ".tmp_source.zig:2:14: error: use of undeclared identifier 'bogus'");
+
+
+    add_compile_fail_case("bogus compile var", R"SOURCE(
+const x = @compile_var("bogus");
+    )SOURCE", 1, ".tmp_source.zig:2:24: error: unrecognized compile variable: 'bogus'");
 }
 
 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////