diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 88c20cdce..9737b884b 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -207,10 +207,8 @@ case $host in
      fi
 
      CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -DMAC_OSX"
-     TESTDEFS="-DBOOST_TEST_DYN_LINK"
      ;;
    *)
-     TESTDEFS="-DBOOST_TEST_DYN_LINK"
      ;;
 esac
 
@@ -345,6 +343,24 @@ if test x$use_tests = xyes; then
 
 
   AX_BOOST_UNIT_TEST_FRAMEWORK
+
+  dnl Determine if -DBOOST_TEST_DYN_LINK is needed
+  AC_MSG_CHECKING([for dynamic linked boost test])
+  TEMP_LIBS="$LIBS"
+  LIBS="$LIBS $BOOST_UNIT_TEST_FRAMEWORK_LIB"
+  TEMP_CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS"
+  CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $BOOST_CPPFLAGS"
+  AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_SOURCE([
+       #define BOOST_TEST_DYN_LINK
+       #define BOOST_TEST_MAIN
+        #include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
+
+       ])],
+    [AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)]
+    [TESTDEFS="$TESTDEFS -DBOOST_TEST_DYN_LINK"],
+    [AC_MSG_RESULT(no)])
+  LIBS="$TEMP_LIBS"
+  CPPFLAGS="$TEMP_CPPFLAGS"
 fi
 
 BOOST_LIBS="$BOOST_LDFLAGS $BOOST_SYSTEM_LIB $BOOST_FILESYSTEM_LIB $BOOST_PROGRAM_OPTIONS_LIB $BOOST_THREAD_LIB"
@@ -357,8 +373,13 @@ dnl after 1.56.
 dnl If neither is available, abort.
 dnl If sleep_for is used, boost_chrono becomes a requirement.
 if test x$ax_cv_boost_chrono = xyes; then
+dnl Allow passing extra needed dependency libraries for boost-chrono from static gitian build
+BOOST_CHRONO_LIB="$BOOST_CHRONO_LIB $BOOST_CHRONO_EXTRALIBS"
+
 TEMP_LIBS="$LIBS"
 LIBS="$LIBS $BOOST_LIBS $BOOST_CHRONO_LIB"
+TEMP_CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS"
+CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $BOOST_CPPFLAGS"
 AC_TRY_LINK([
   #include <boost/thread/thread.hpp>
   #include <boost/version.hpp>
@@ -373,11 +394,14 @@ AC_TRY_LINK([
      AC_DEFINE(HAVE_WORKING_BOOST_SLEEP_FOR, 1, [Define this symbol if boost sleep_for works])],
   [boost_sleep=no])
 LIBS="$TEMP_LIBS"
+CPPFLAGS="$TEMP_CPPFLAGS"
 fi
 
 if test x$boost_sleep != xyes; then
 TEMP_LIBS="$LIBS"
 LIBS="$LIBS $BOOST_LIBS"
+TEMP_CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS"
+CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $BOOST_CPPFLAGS"
 AC_TRY_LINK([
   #include <boost/version.hpp>
   #include <boost/thread.hpp>
@@ -392,6 +416,7 @@ AC_TRY_LINK([
   [boost_sleep=yes; AC_DEFINE(HAVE_WORKING_BOOST_SLEEP, 1, [Define this symbol if boost sleep works])],
   [boost_sleep=no])
 LIBS="$TEMP_LIBS"
+CPPFLAGS="$TEMP_CPPFLAGS"
 fi
 
 if test x$boost_sleep != xyes; then
diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/boost-linux.yml b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/boost-linux.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5d22294dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/boost-linux.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+---
+name: "boost"
+suites:
+- "precise"
+architectures:
+- "i386"
+- "amd64"
+packages:
+- "unzip"
+- "pkg-config"
+- "libtool"
+- "faketime"
+- "bsdmainutils"
+- "zip"
+reference_datetime: "2011-01-30 00:00:00"
+remotes: []
+files:
+- "boost_1_55_0.tar.bz2"
+script: |
+  STAGING="$HOME/install"
+  export LIBRARY_PATH="$STAGING/lib"
+  # Input Integrity Check
+  echo "fff00023dd79486d444c8e29922f4072e1d451fc5a4d2b6075852ead7f2b7b52  boost_1_55_0.tar.bz2" | shasum -c
+
+  mkdir -p "$STAGING"
+  tar xjf boost_1_55_0.tar.bz2
+  cd boost_1_55_0
+  GCCVERSION=$(g++ -E -dM $(mktemp --suffix=.h) | grep __VERSION__ | cut -d ' ' -f 3 | cut -d '"' -f 2)
+  # note: bjam with -d+2 reveals that -O3 is implied by default, no need to provide it in cxxflags
+  echo "using gcc : $GCCVERSION : g++
+        :
+        <cxxflags>\"-frandom-seed=boost1 -fPIC\"
+  ;" > user-config.jam
+
+  ./bootstrap.sh --without-icu
+
+  ./bjam toolset=gcc threadapi=pthread threading=multi variant=release link=static runtime-link=shared --user-config=user-config.jam --without-mpi --without-python -sNO_BZIP2=1 --layout=tagged --build-type=complete --prefix="$STAGING" $MAKEOPTS install
+
+  cd "$STAGING"
+  export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/faketime/libfaketime.so.1
+  export FAKETIME=$REFERENCE_DATETIME
+  zip -r $OUTDIR/boost-linux${GBUILD_BITS}-1.55.0-gitian-r1.zip *
diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/boost-win32.yml b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/boost-win32.yml
index b14cd1f6c..55e74ce3e 100644
--- a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/boost-win32.yml
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/boost-win32.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ files:
 - "boost-mingw-gas-cross-compile-2013-03-03.patch"
 script: |
   # Defines
-  INSTALLPREFIX="$OUTDIR/staging/boost"
+  INSTALLPREFIX="$HOME/install"
   HOST=i686-w64-mingw32
   # Input Integrity Check
   echo "fff00023dd79486d444c8e29922f4072e1d451fc5a4d2b6075852ead7f2b7b52  boost_1_55_0.tar.bz2" | shasum -c
@@ -57,10 +57,9 @@ script: |
   # Note: Might need these options in the future for 64bit builds.
   # "Please note that address-model=64 must be given to bjam command line on 64bit Windows for 64bit build; otherwise 32bit code will be generated."
   # "For cross-compiling the lib you must specify certain additional properties at bjam command line: target-os, abi, binary-format, architecture and address-model."
-  ./bjam toolset=gcc binary-format=pe target-os=windows threadapi=win32 threading=multi variant=release link=static --user-config=user-config.jam --without-mpi --without-python -sNO_BZIP2=1 -sNO_ZLIB=1 --layout=tagged --build-type=complete --prefix="$INSTALLPREFIX" $MAKEOPTS install
+  ./bjam toolset=gcc binary-format=pe target-os=windows threadapi=win32 threading=multi variant=release link=static runtime-link=static --user-config=user-config.jam --without-mpi --without-python -sNO_BZIP2=1 -sNO_ZLIB=1 --layout=tagged --build-type=complete --prefix="$INSTALLPREFIX" $MAKEOPTS install
 
   cd "$INSTALLPREFIX"
   export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/faketime/libfaketime.so.1
   export FAKETIME=$REFERENCE_DATETIME
-  zip -r boost-win32-1.55.0-gitian-r6.zip *
-  cp boost-win32-1.55.0-gitian-r6.zip $OUTDIR
+  zip -r $OUTDIR/boost-win32-1.55.0-gitian-r6.zip *
diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/deps-linux.yml b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/deps-linux.yml
index 4ebf5c53a..41d8d65fb 100644
--- a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/deps-linux.yml
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/deps-linux.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ packages:
 reference_datetime: "2013-06-01 00:00:00"
 remotes: []
 files:
+- "openssl-1.0.1e.tar.gz"
 - "miniupnpc-1.8.tar.gz"
 - "qrencode-3.4.3.tar.bz2"
 - "protobuf-2.5.0.tar.bz2"
@@ -24,11 +25,21 @@ script: |
   OPTFLAGS='-O2'
   export LIBRARY_PATH="$STAGING/lib"
   # Integrity Check
+  echo "f74f15e8c8ff11aa3d5bb5f276d202ec18d7246e95f961db76054199c69c1ae3  openssl-1.0.1e.tar.gz"  | sha256sum -c
   echo "bc5f73c7b0056252c1888a80e6075787a1e1e9112b808f863a245483ff79859c  miniupnpc-1.8.tar.gz"   | sha256sum -c
   echo "dfd71487513c871bad485806bfd1fdb304dedc84d2b01a8fb8e0940b50597a98  qrencode-3.4.3.tar.bz2" | sha256sum -c
   echo "13bfc5ae543cf3aa180ac2485c0bc89495e3ae711fc6fab4f8ffe90dfb4bb677  protobuf-2.5.0.tar.bz2" | sha256sum -c
   echo "12edc0df75bf9abd7f82f821795bcee50f42cb2e5f76a6a281b85732798364ef  db-4.8.30.NC.tar.gz"    | sha256sum -c
 
+  #
+  tar xzf openssl-1.0.1e.tar.gz
+  cd openssl-1.0.1e
+  #   need -fPIC to avoid relocation error in 64 bit builds
+  ./config no-shared no-zlib no-dso no-krb5 --openssldir=$STAGING -fPIC
+  make
+  make install_sw
+  cd ..
+  #
   tar xzfm miniupnpc-1.8.tar.gz
   cd miniupnpc-1.8
   #   miniupnpc is always built with -fPIC
@@ -60,4 +71,4 @@ script: |
   cd ../..
   #
   cd $STAGING
-  zip -r $OUTDIR/bitcoin-deps-linux${GBUILD_BITS}-gitian-r1.zip include lib bin host
+  zip -r $OUTDIR/bitcoin-deps-linux${GBUILD_BITS}-gitian-r2.zip include lib bin host
diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
index b0fe86e25..417f31e27 100644
--- a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
@@ -6,14 +6,7 @@ architectures:
 - "i386"
 - "amd64"
 packages: 
-- "qt4-qmake"
 - "libqt4-dev"
-- "libboost-system-dev"
-- "libboost-filesystem-dev"
-- "libboost-program-options-dev"
-- "libboost-thread-dev"
-- "libboost-test-dev"
-- "libssl-dev"
 - "git-core"
 - "unzip"
 - "pkg-config"
@@ -27,8 +20,10 @@ remotes:
 - "url": "https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git"
   "dir": "bitcoin"
 files:
-- "bitcoin-deps-linux32-gitian-r1.zip"
-- "bitcoin-deps-linux64-gitian-r1.zip"
+- "bitcoin-deps-linux32-gitian-r2.zip"
+- "bitcoin-deps-linux64-gitian-r2.zip"
+- "boost-linux32-1.55.0-gitian-r1.zip"
+- "boost-linux64-1.55.0-gitian-r1.zip"
 script: |
   STAGING="$HOME/install"
   OPTFLAGS='-O2'
@@ -38,18 +33,19 @@ script: |
   #
   mkdir -p $STAGING
   cd $STAGING
-  unzip ../build/bitcoin-deps-linux${GBUILD_BITS}-gitian-r1.zip
+  unzip ../build/bitcoin-deps-linux${GBUILD_BITS}-gitian-r2.zip
+  unzip ../build/boost-linux${GBUILD_BITS}-1.55.0-gitian-r1.zip
   cd ../build
   #
   cd bitcoin
   export TAR_OPTIONS=--mtime=`echo $REFERENCE_DATETIME | awk '{ print $1 }'`
   ./autogen.sh
-  ./configure --prefix=$STAGING --bindir=$BINDIR --with-protoc-bindir=$STAGING/host/bin --disable-maintainer-mode --disable-dependency-tracking PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$STAGING/lib/pkgconfig" CPPFLAGS="-I$STAGING/include ${OPTFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="-L$STAGING/lib ${OPTFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="-frandom-seed=bitcoin ${OPTFLAGS}"
+  ./configure --prefix=$STAGING --bindir=$BINDIR --with-protoc-bindir=$STAGING/host/bin --with-boost=$STAGING --disable-maintainer-mode --disable-dependency-tracking PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$STAGING/lib/pkgconfig" CPPFLAGS="-I$STAGING/include ${OPTFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="-L$STAGING/lib ${OPTFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="-frandom-seed=bitcoin ${OPTFLAGS}" BOOST_CHRONO_EXTRALIBS="-lrt"
   make dist
   mkdir -p distsrc
   cd distsrc
   tar --strip-components=1 -xf ../bitcoin-*.tar.*
-  ./configure --prefix=$STAGING --bindir=$BINDIR --with-protoc-bindir=$STAGING/host/bin --disable-maintainer-mode --disable-dependency-tracking PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$STAGING/lib/pkgconfig" CPPFLAGS="-I$STAGING/include ${OPTFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="-L$STAGING/lib ${OPTFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="-frandom-seed=bitcoin ${OPTFLAGS}"
+  ./configure --prefix=$STAGING --bindir=$BINDIR --with-protoc-bindir=$STAGING/host/bin --with-boost=$STAGING --disable-maintainer-mode --disable-dependency-tracking PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$STAGING/lib/pkgconfig" CPPFLAGS="-I$STAGING/include ${OPTFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="-L$STAGING/lib ${OPTFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="-frandom-seed=bitcoin ${OPTFLAGS}" BOOST_CHRONO_EXTRALIBS="-lrt"
   make $MAKEOPTS
   make $MAKEOPTS install-strip
   mkdir -p $OUTDIR/src
diff --git a/doc/release-process.md b/doc/release-process.md
index 428193681..7fccf2172 100644
--- a/doc/release-process.md
+++ b/doc/release-process.md
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ Release Process
 	cd ..
 	./bin/gbuild ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/deps-linux.yml
 	mv build/out/bitcoin-deps-*.zip inputs/
+	./bin/gbuild ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/boost-linux.yml
+	mv build/out/boost-linux-*.zip inputs/
 	./bin/gbuild ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/boost-win32.yml
 	mv build/out/boost-win32-*.zip inputs/
 	./bin/gbuild ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/deps-win32.yml