diff --git a/common/trace_helpers.cpp b/common/trace_helpers.cpp
index 71384bb96b..54c1b84a3e 100644
--- a/common/trace_helpers.cpp
+++ b/common/trace_helpers.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 
 #include <trace_helpers.h>
 
+#include <wx/tokenzr.h>
 
 const wxChar* const traceFindReplace = wxT( "KICAD_FIND_REPLACE" );
 const wxChar* const kicadTraceCoords = wxT( "KICAD_COORDS" );
@@ -275,3 +276,55 @@ wxString dump( const wxKeyEvent& aEvent )
 
     return msg;
 }
+
+
+TRACE_MANAGER& TRACE_MANAGER::Instance()
+{
+    static TRACE_MANAGER* self = nullptr;
+
+    if( !self )
+    {
+        self = new TRACE_MANAGER;
+        self->init();
+    }
+
+    return *self;
+}
+
+void TRACE_MANAGER::traceV( const wxString& aWhat, const wxString& aFmt, va_list vargs )
+{
+    if( !m_printAllTraces )
+    {
+        if( !m_globalTraceEnabled )
+            return;
+
+        if( m_enabledTraces.find( aWhat ) == m_enabledTraces.end() )
+            return;
+    }
+
+    wxString str;
+    str.PrintfV( aFmt, vargs );
+
+#ifdef __unix__
+    fprintf( stderr, " %-30s | %s", aWhat.c_str().AsChar(), str.c_str().AsChar() );
+#endif
+}
+
+void TRACE_MANAGER::init()
+{
+    wxString traceVars;
+    m_globalTraceEnabled = wxGetEnv( wxT( "KICAD_TRACE" ), &traceVars );
+    m_printAllTraces = false;
+
+    if( !m_globalTraceEnabled )
+        return;
+
+    wxStringTokenizer tokenizer( traceVars, wxT( "," ) );
+    while( tokenizer.HasMoreTokens() )
+    {
+        wxString token = tokenizer.GetNextToken();
+        m_enabledTraces[token] = true;
+        if( token == wxT( "all" ) )
+            m_printAllTraces = true;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/include/trace_helpers.h b/include/trace_helpers.h
index d05147a171..a0566ba0f9 100644
--- a/include/trace_helpers.h
+++ b/include/trace_helpers.h
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@
 #include <wx/event.h>
 #include <wx/string.h>
 
+#include <stdarg.h>
+#include <map>
+
 /**
  * @defgroup trace_env_vars Trace Environment Variables
  *
@@ -213,4 +216,44 @@ extern wxString dump( const wxKeyEvent& aEvent );
  */
 extern wxString dump( const wxArrayString& aArray );
 
+class TRACE_MANAGER
+{
+public:
+    TRACE_MANAGER(){};
+    ~TRACE_MANAGER(){};
+
+    static TRACE_MANAGER& Instance();
+
+    WX_DEFINE_VARARG_FUNC_VOID( Trace, 2, (const wxString, const wxFormatString&), DoTrace,
+                                DoTraceUtf8 )
+
+    void DoTrace( const wxString aWhat, const wxChar* aFmt, ... )
+    {
+        va_list argptr;
+        va_start( argptr, aFmt );
+        traceV( aWhat, aFmt, argptr );
+        va_end( argptr );
+    }
+
+#if wxUSE_UNICODE_UTF8
+    void DoTraceUtf8( const wxString aWhat, const wxChar* aFmt, ... )
+    {
+        va_list argptr;
+        va_start( argptr, format );
+        traceV( aWhat, aFmt, argptr );
+        va_end( argptr );
+    }
+#endif
+
+private:
+    void traceV( const wxString& aWhat, const wxString& aFmt, va_list vargs );
+    void init();
+
+    std::map<wxString, bool> m_enabledTraces;
+    bool                     m_globalTraceEnabled;
+    bool                     m_printAllTraces;
+};
+
+#define KI_TRACE( ... ) TRACE_MANAGER::Instance().Trace( __VA_ARGS__ )
+
 #endif    // _TRACE_HELPERS_H_