diff --git a/lib/gpt/core/log.py b/lib/gpt/core/log.py
index 397c7e69..8cbb2110 100644
--- a/lib/gpt/core/log.py
+++ b/lib/gpt/core/log.py
@@ -16,12 +16,16 @@
 #    with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
 #    51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 #
-import gpt, sys, os
+import gpt, sys, os, signal, datetime
 from inspect import getframeinfo, stack
 
 verbose = gpt.default.is_verbose("message_context")
+last_context = ""
+
 
 def message(*a, force_output=False):
+    global last_context
+
     # conversion to string can be an mpi process (i.e. for lattice),
     # so need to do it on all ranks
     s = " ".join([str(x) for x in a])
@@ -31,8 +35,11 @@ def message(*a, force_output=False):
             caller = getframeinfo(st[0])
             slines.append(f"{caller.filename}:{caller.lineno}")
         cpath = os.path.commonpath(slines)
-        cs = ";".join([ x[len(cpath)+1:] for x in slines ])
-        s = f"[{cpath}|{cs}]\n{s}"
+        cs = ";".join([x[len(cpath) + 1 :] for x in slines])
+        ctx = f"[{cpath}|{cs}]"
+        if ctx != last_context:
+            s = f"{ctx}\n{s}"
+            last_context = ctx
     if gpt.rank() == 0 or force_output:
         lines = s.split("\n")
         if len(lines) > 0:
@@ -40,3 +47,27 @@ def message(*a, force_output=False):
             for line in lines[1:]:
                 print("                       :", line)
         sys.stdout.flush()
+
+
+def backtrace_signal_handler(sig, frame):
+
+    now = datetime.datetime.now()
+    log_directory = "log/" + now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
+    if not os.path.exists(log_directory):
+        os.makedirs(log_directory, exist_ok=True)
+
+    log_filename = f"{log_directory}/backtrace.{gpt.rank()}." + now.strftime("%H-%M-%f")
+    sys.stderr.write(f"Requested GPT backtrace; saved in {log_filename}\n")
+    sys.stderr.flush()
+
+    fout = open(log_filename, "wt")
+
+    while frame is not None:
+        caller = getframeinfo(frame)
+        fout.write(f"{caller.filename}:{caller.lineno}\n")
+        frame = frame.f_back
+
+    fout.close()
+
+
+signal.signal(signal.SIGUSR2, backtrace_signal_handler)