diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 954b3cfcc17..3efc25aafb1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,10 +1,17 @@
+# C/C++ build outputs
 bins
-coverage
-deps
-*.gcno
 gens
 libs
 objs
+
+# gcov coverage data
+coverage
+*.gcno
+
+# profiler output
+*.prof
+
+# python compiled objects
 *.pyc
 
 # cache for run_tests.py
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4335a528a27..5af4f354279 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -179,6 +179,13 @@ endif
 
 OPENSSL_ALPN_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/openssl-alpn.c -lssl -lcrypto -ldl $(LDFLAGS)
 ZLIB_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/zlib.c -lz $(LDFLAGS)
+PERFTOOLS_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/perftools.c -lprofiler $(LDFLAGS)
+
+HAS_SYSTEM_PERFTOOLS = $(shell $(PERFTOOLS_CHECK_CMD) 2> /dev/null && echo true || echo false)
+ifeq ($(HAS_SYSTEM_PERFTOOLS),true)
+DEFINES += GRPC_HAVE_PERFTOOLS
+LIBS += profiler
+endif
 
 ifndef REQUIRE_CUSTOM_LIBRARIES_$(CONFIG)
 HAS_SYSTEM_OPENSSL_ALPN = $(shell $(OPENSSL_ALPN_CHECK_CMD) 2> /dev/null && echo true || echo false)
diff --git a/templates/Makefile.template b/templates/Makefile.template
index 0b94aa1073a..b359d866acf 100644
--- a/templates/Makefile.template
+++ b/templates/Makefile.template
@@ -196,6 +196,13 @@ endif
 
 OPENSSL_ALPN_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/openssl-alpn.c -lssl -lcrypto -ldl $(LDFLAGS)
 ZLIB_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/zlib.c -lz $(LDFLAGS)
+PERFTOOLS_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/perftools.c -lprofiler $(LDFLAGS)
+
+HAS_SYSTEM_PERFTOOLS = $(shell $(PERFTOOLS_CHECK_CMD) 2> /dev/null && echo true || echo false)
+ifeq ($(HAS_SYSTEM_PERFTOOLS),true)
+DEFINES += GRPC_HAVE_PERFTOOLS
+LIBS += profiler
+endif
 
 ifndef REQUIRE_CUSTOM_LIBRARIES_$(CONFIG)
 HAS_SYSTEM_OPENSSL_ALPN = $(shell $(OPENSSL_ALPN_CHECK_CMD) 2> /dev/null && echo true || echo false)
diff --git a/test/build/perftools.c b/test/build/perftools.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..03548b4c7ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/build/perftools.c
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#include <gperftools/profiler.h>
+
+int main() {
+  ProfilerStart("/dev/null");
+  ProfilerStop();
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/test/core/util/grpc_profiler.c b/test/core/util/grpc_profiler.c
index 340b2d53b96..46bfc1f533c 100644
--- a/test/core/util/grpc_profiler.c
+++ b/test/core/util/grpc_profiler.c
@@ -33,6 +33,22 @@
 
 #include "test/core/util/grpc_profiler.h"
 
-void grpc_profiler_start(const char *filename) {}
+#if GRPC_HAVE_PERFTOOLS
+#include <gperftools/profiler.h>
+
+void grpc_profiler_start(const char *filename) { ProfilerStart(filename); }
+
+void grpc_profiler_stop() { ProfilerStop(); }
+#else
+#include <grpc/support/log.h>
+
+void grpc_profiler_start(const char *filename) {
+  gpr_log(GPR_DEBUG,
+          "You do not have google-perftools installed, profiling is disabled");
+  gpr_log(GPR_DEBUG,
+          "To install on ubuntu: sudo apt-get install google-perftools "
+          "libgoogle-perftools-dev");
+}
 
 void grpc_profiler_stop(void) {}
+#endif