diff --git a/Modules/CheckPrototypeDefinition.c.in b/Modules/CheckPrototypeDefinition.c.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a97344ac3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Modules/CheckPrototypeDefinition.c.in
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+@CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_HEADER@
+
+static void cmakeRequireSymbol(int dummy, ...) {
+  (void) dummy;
+}
+
+static void checkSymbol(void) {
+#ifndef @CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_SYMBOL@
+  cmakeRequireSymbol(0, &@CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_SYMBOL@);
+#endif
+}
+
+@CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_PROTO@ {
+  return @CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_RETURN@;
+}
+
+#ifdef __CLASSIC_C__
+int main() {
+  int ac;
+  char*av[];
+#else
+int main(int ac, char *av[]) {
+#endif
+  checkSymbol();
+  if (ac > 1000) {
+    return *av[0];
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/Modules/CheckPrototypeDefinition.cmake b/Modules/CheckPrototypeDefinition.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..244b9b53b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Modules/CheckPrototypeDefinition.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+# - Check if the protoype we expect is correct.
+# check_prototype_definition(FUNCTION PROTOTYPE RETURN HEADER VARIABLE)
+#  FUNCTION - The name of the function (used to check if prototype exists)
+#  PROTOTYPE- The prototype to check.
+#  RETURN - The return value of the function.
+#  HEADER - The header files required.
+#  VARIABLE - The variable to store the result.
+# Example:
+#  check_prototype_definition(getpwent_r
+#   "struct passwd *getpwent_r(struct passwd *src, char *buf, int buflen)"
+#   "NULL"
+#   "unistd.h;pwd.h"
+#   SOLARIS_GETPWENT_R)
+# The following variables may be set before calling this macro to
+# modify the way the check is run:
+#
+#  CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS = string of compile command line flags
+#  CMAKE_REQUIRED_DEFINITIONS = list of macros to define (-DFOO=bar)
+#  CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES = list of include directories
+#  CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES = list of libraries to link
+
+#=============================================================================
+# Copyright 2005-2009 Kitware, Inc.
+# Copyright 2010-2011 Andreas Schneider <asn@cryptomilk.org>
+#
+# Distributed under the OSI-approved BSD License (the "License");
+# see accompanying file Copyright.txt for details.
+#
+# This software is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
+# implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+# See the License for more information.
+#=============================================================================
+# (To distribute this file outside of CMake, substitute the full
+#  License text for the above reference.)
+#
+
+get_filename_component(__check_proto_def_dir "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_FILE}" PATH)
+
+function(CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION _FUNCTION _PROTOTYPE _RETURN _HEADER _VARIABLE)
+
+  if ("${_VARIABLE}" MATCHES "^${_VARIABLE}$")
+    set(CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_CONTENT "/* */\n")
+
+    set(CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_FLAGS ${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS})
+    if (CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES)
+      set(CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_LIBS
+        "-DLINK_LIBRARIES:STRING=${CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES}")
+    else(CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES)
+      set(CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_LIBS)
+    endif(CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES)
+    if (CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES)
+      set(CMAKE_SYMBOL_EXISTS_INCLUDES
+        "-DINCLUDE_DIRECTORIES:STRING=${CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES}")
+    else(CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES)
+      set(CMAKE_SYMBOL_EXISTS_INCLUDES)
+    endif(CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES)
+
+    foreach(_FILE ${_HEADER})
+      set(CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_HEADER
+        "${CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_HEADER}#include <${_FILE}>\n")
+    endforeach(_FILE)
+
+    set(CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_SYMBOL ${_FUNCTION})
+    set(CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_PROTO ${_PROTOTYPE})
+    set(CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_RETURN ${_RETURN})
+
+    configure_file("${__check_proto_def_dir}/CheckPrototypeDefinition.c.in"
+      "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}${CMAKE_FILES_DIRECTORY}/CMakeTmp/CheckPrototypeDefinition.c" @ONLY)
+
+    file(READ ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}${CMAKE_FILES_DIRECTORY}/CMakeTmp/CheckPrototypeDefinition.c _SOURCE)
+
+    try_compile(${_VARIABLE}
+      ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}
+      ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}${CMAKE_FILES_DIRECTORY}/CMakeTmp/CheckPrototypeDefinition.c
+      COMPILE_DEFINITIONS ${CMAKE_REQUIRED_DEFINITIONS}
+      CMAKE_FLAGS -DCOMPILE_DEFINITIONS:STRING=${CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_FLAGS}
+      "${CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION_LIBS}"
+      "${CMAKE_SYMBOL_EXISTS_INCLUDES}"
+      OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUTPUT)
+
+    if (${_VARIABLE})
+      set(${_VARIABLE} 1 CACHE INTERNAL "Have correct prototype for ${_FUNCTION}")
+      message(STATUS "Checking prototype ${_FUNCTION} for ${_VARIABLE} - True")
+      file(APPEND ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}${CMAKE_FILES_DIRECTORY}/CMakeOutput.log
+        "Determining if the prototype ${_FUNCTION} exists for ${_VARIABLE} passed with the following output:\n"
+        "${OUTPUT}\n\n")
+    else (${_VARIABLE})
+      message(STATUS "Checking prototype ${_FUNCTION} for ${_VARIABLE} - False")
+      set(${_VARIABLE} 0 CACHE INTERNAL "Have correct prototype for ${_FUNCTION}")
+      file(APPEND ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}${CMAKE_FILES_DIRECTORY}/CMakeError.log
+        "Determining if the prototype ${_FUNCTION} exists for ${_VARIABLE} failed with the following output:\n"
+        "${OUTPUT}\n\n${_SOURCE}\n\n")
+    endif (${_VARIABLE})
+  endif("${_VARIABLE}" MATCHES "^${_VARIABLE}$")
+
+endfunction(CHECK_PROTOTYPE_DEFINITION)
diff --git a/Tests/TryCompile/CMakeLists.txt b/Tests/TryCompile/CMakeLists.txt
index 90c2cfce2..938c092c0 100644
--- a/Tests/TryCompile/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Tests/TryCompile/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -232,3 +232,16 @@ IF("${CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID}" STREQUAL "GNU")
   CHECK_C_COMPILER_FLAG("-Werror;-Wstrict-prototypes" C_STRICT_PROTOTYPES)
   TEST_ASSERT(C_STRICT_PROTOTYPES "CHECK_C_COMPILER_FLAG failed -Werror -Wstrict-prototypes")
 ENDIF()
+
+#######################################################################
+#
+# also test that the check_prototype_definition macro works
+
+include(CheckPrototypeDefinition)
+
+check_prototype_definition(remove
+  "int remove(const char *pathname)"
+  "0"
+  "stdio.h"
+  TEST_REMOVE_PROTO)
+test_assert(TEST_REMOVE_PROTO "check_prototype_definition for remove() failed")