diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f1de1f01..81634ef6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ Most of all the dependencies for building Bitcoin Core are needed, for more info
 
 - OpenSSL headers and libraries (-lcrypto and -lssl), this is used to compile Bitcoin.
 
-- If target platform is Mac OS X, then OS X >= 10.9, Clang and associated linker.
+- If target platform is Mac OS X, then OS X >= 10.9, Clang and associated linker. Clang is exclusively installed via Xcode from the Apple App Store. In addition to Xcode, you will need the assoicated Xcode command line tools. First, install Xcode using the App Store app in Mac OS X. After this is installed, open a terminal and type in 'xcode-select --install'. Follow the prompts to get the command line tools installed.
 
 #### Shared Library Patch
 
diff --git a/bin/build-libbitcoind b/bin/build-libbitcoind
index 049f1a65..c6b739e6 100755
--- a/bin/build-libbitcoind
+++ b/bin/build-libbitcoind
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ host=$(${root_dir}/platform/os.sh host)
 btc_dir="${root_dir}/libbitcoind"
 ext=$($root_dir/platform/os.sh ext)
 artifacts_dir=$($root_dir/platform/os.sh artifacts_dir)
+export CPPFLAGS="-I${h_and_a_dir}/include/boost -I${h_and_a_dir}/include -I/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.9.sdk/usr/include -I/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.10.sdk/usr/include -L${h_and_a_dir}/lib"
 echo "Using BTC directory: ${btc_dir}"
 
 cd "${root_dir}"
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ copy_header_files () {
   if [[ -d "${artifacts_dir}" && -d "${h_and_a_dir}" && -d "${btc_dir}" ]]; then
     mkdir -p "${artifacts_dir}/include" > /dev/null 2>&1
     pushd "${root_dir}"
+    echo "Copying headers for caching purposes, this can take a while (but will only be done once), please wait..."
     find libbitcoind -type f \( -name "*.h" -or -name "*.hpp" -or -name "*.ipp" \) -print0 | xargs -0 -I{} rsync -R {} "${artifacts_dir}"/include
     mkdir -p "${artifacts_dir}/lib" > /dev/null 2>&1
     cp -r "${h_and_a_dir}"/lib/libboost_filesystem-mt.a "${h_and_a_dir}"/lib/libboost_thread-mt.a "${artifacts_dir}"/lib/ 
@@ -35,9 +37,9 @@ build_dependencies () {
     fi
     if [ "${should_rebuild}" = true ]; then
       if [ "${test}" = true ]; then
-        make HOST=${host} NO_QT=1 NO_UPNP=1 
+        make HOST=${host} NO_QT=1 NO_UPNP=1
       else
-        make HOST=${host} NO_QT=1 NO_WALLET=1 NO_UPNP=1 
+        make HOST=${host} NO_QT=1 NO_WALLET=1 NO_UPNP=1
       fi
     else
       echo "Looks like libs are already built, so we won't rebuild them. Incidentally, we found: ${boost_files_count} boost libraries and: ${db_files_count} Berkeley DB libraries and you have test mode set to: ${test}"
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ compare_patch () {
   cd "${btc_dir}"
   get_patch_file
   echo "running the diff command from HEAD to ${tag}"
-  git diff ${tag}..HEAD > /tmp/tmp.patch #uncommitted changes won't affect things here
+  git diff ${tag}..HEAD > /tmp/tmp.patch
   matching_patch=`diff -w /tmp/tmp.patch "${root_dir}/etc/bitcoin.patch"` 
 }
 
@@ -75,10 +77,14 @@ if [ "${BITCORENODE_ENV}" == "test" ]; then
 fi
 
 patch_file_sha=$(shasum -a 256 "${root_dir}/etc/bitcoin.patch" | awk '{print $1}')
-if [ "${ext}" == "dylib" ]; then
-  last_patch_file_sha=$(cat "${os_dir}"/lib/patch_sha.txt)
-else
-  last_patch_file_sha=$(cat "${os_dir}"/patch_sha.txt)
+patch_sha=`find "${os_dir}" -iname patch_sha.txt`
+last_patch_file_sha=
+if [ -e "${patch_sha}" ]; then 
+  if [ "${ext}" == "dylib" ]; then
+    last_patch_file_sha=$(cat "${os_dir}"/lib/patch_sha.txt)
+  else
+    last_patch_file_sha=$(cat "${os_dir}"/patch_sha.txt)
+  fi
 fi
 shared_file_built=false
 if [[ "${last_patch_file_sha}" == "${patch_file_sha}" && -d "${artifacts_dir}/include" ]]; then
@@ -86,6 +92,11 @@ if [[ "${last_patch_file_sha}" == "${patch_file_sha}" && -d "${artifacts_dir}/in
 fi
 
 if [ "${shared_file_built}" = false ]; then
+  mac_response=$($root_dir/platform/os.sh mac_dependencies) 
+  if [ "${mac_response}" != "" ]; then
+    echo "${mac_response}" 
+    exit -1
+  fi
   only_make=false
   if [ -d "${btc_dir}" ]; then
     echo "running compare patch..."
@@ -138,7 +149,6 @@ apply the current patch from "${root_dir}"/etc/bitcoin.patch? (y/N): "
   echo './autogen.sh'
   ./autogen.sh
 
-  export CPPFLAGS="-I${h_and_a_dir}/include/boost -I${h_and_a_dir}/include -L${h_and_a_dir}/lib"
   boost_libdir="--with-boost-libdir=${h_and_a_dir}/lib"
 
   full_options="${options} ${boost_libdir} --prefix=${os_dir}"
diff --git a/platform/os.sh b/platform/os.sh
index b1897183..d960b466 100755
--- a/platform/os.sh
+++ b/platform/os.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,19 @@ host=`uname -m`-`uname -a | awk '{print tolower($1)}'`
 depends_dir="${BITCOIN_DIR}"/depends
 h_and_a_dir="${depends_dir}"/"${host}"
 
+mac_response=
+check_mac_build_system () {
+  if [ "${ext}" == "dylib" ]; then
+    if [ ! -d "/usr/include" ]; then
+      if hash xcode-select 2>/dev/null; then
+        mac_response="Please run 'xcode-select --install' from the command line because it seems that you've got Xcode, but not the Xcode command line tools that are required for compiling this project from source..."
+      else
+        mac_response="please use the App Store to install Xcode and Xcode command line tools. After Xcode is installed, please run: 'xcode-select --install' from the command line"
+      fi
+    fi
+  fi
+}
+
 if test -f /etc/centos-release \
   || grep -q 'CentOS' /etc/redhat-release \
   || rpm -q --queryformat '%{VERSION}' centos-release > /dev/null; then
@@ -113,6 +126,11 @@ if test -z "$1" -o x"$1" = x'artifacts_dir'; then
   echo -n "${artifacts_dir}" 
 fi
 
+if test -z "$1" -o x"$1" = x'mac_dependencies'; then
+  check_mac_build_system
+  echo -n "${mac_response}"
+fi
+
 if test -z "$1" -o x"$1" = x'lib'; then
   if test -e "${os_dir}/libbitcoind.${ext}" -o -e "${os_dir}/lib/libbitcoind.${ext}"; then
     if test -e "${os_dir}/lib/libbitcoind.${ext}"; then