5 files changed, 44 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md b/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md
index e816795..b05c555 100644
--- a/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md
+++ b/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md
@@ -980,9 +980,13 @@ Project supports the following keyword arguments.
     runresult run_command(command, list_of_args)
 ```
 
-Runs the command specified in positional arguments. Returns [an opaque
-object](#run-result-object) containing the result of the
-invocation. The script is run from an *unspecified* directory, and
+Runs the command specified in positional arguments.
+`command` can be a string, or the output of [`find_program()`](#find_program),
+[`files()`](#files) or [`configure_file()`](#configure_file), or
+[a compiler object](#compiler-object).
+
+Returns [an opaque object](#run-result-object) containing the result of the
+invocation. The command is run from an *unspecified* directory, and
 Meson will set three environment variables `MESON_SOURCE_ROOT`,
 `MESON_BUILD_ROOT` and `MESON_SUBDIR` that specify the source
 directory, build directory and subdirectory the target was defined in,
diff --git a/docs/markdown/snippets/compiler-object-run_command.md b/docs/markdown/snippets/compiler-object-run_command.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0308416
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/markdown/snippets/compiler-object-run_command.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+## Compiler object can now be passed to run_command()
+
+This can be used to run the current compiler with the specified arguments
+to obtain additional information from it.
+One of the use cases is to get the location of development files for the
+GCC plugins:
+
+    cc = meson.get_compiler('c')
+    result = run_command(cc, '-print-file-name=plugin')
+    plugin_dev_path = result.stdout().strip()
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
index 7a76fad..71c9f4b 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
@@ -1679,10 +1679,17 @@ external dependencies (including libraries) must go to "dependencies".''')
         cargs = args[1:]
         srcdir = self.environment.get_source_dir()
         builddir = self.environment.get_build_dir()
-        m = 'must be a string, or the output of find_program(), files(), or ' \
-            'configure_file(); not {!r}'
+        m = 'must be a string, or the output of find_program(), files() '\
+            'or configure_file(), or a compiler object; not {!r}'
         if isinstance(cmd, ExternalProgramHolder):
             cmd = cmd.held_object
+        elif isinstance(cmd, CompilerHolder):
+            cmd = cmd.compiler.get_exelist()[0]
+            prog = ExternalProgram(cmd, silent=True)
+            if not prog.found():
+                raise InterpreterException('Program {!r} not found '
+                                           'or not executable'.format(cmd))
+            cmd = prog
         else:
             if isinstance(cmd, mesonlib.File):
                 cmd = cmd.absolute_path(srcdir, builddir)
diff --git a/run_unittests.py b/run_unittests.py
index 35c5eec..cbae559 100755
--- a/run_unittests.py
+++ b/run_unittests.py
@@ -1850,6 +1850,14 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
                 self.init(testdir, ['--cross-file=' + name], inprocess=True)
                 self.wipe()
 
+    def test_compiler_run_command(self):
+        '''
+        The test checks that the compiler object can be passed to
+        run_command().
+        '''
+        testdir = os.path.join(self.unit_test_dir, '23 compiler run_command')
+        self.init(testdir)
+
 
 class FailureTests(BasePlatformTests):
     '''
diff --git a/test cases/unit/23 compiler run_command/meson.build b/test cases/unit/23 compiler run_command/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d9e0b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test cases/unit/23 compiler run_command/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+project('compiler_object_in_run_command', 'c')
+cc = meson.get_compiler('c')
+
+# This test only checks that the compiler object can be passed to
+# run_command(). If the compiler has been launched, it is expected
+# to output something either to stdout or to stderr.
+result = run_command(cc, '--version')
+if result.stdout() == '' and result.stderr() == ''
+  error('No output in stdout and stderr. Did the compiler run at all?')
+endif