diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 0387a1518..dd89b3aec 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ matrix:
     - os: linux
       sudo: false
       compiler: ": clang"
-      env: JOBS=8 CXX="ccache clang++-3.9 -Qunused-arguments" CC="clang-3.9" TRIGGER=true
+      env: JOBS=8 CXX="ccache clang++-3.9 -Qunused-arguments" CC="clang-3.9" ENABLE_GLIBC_WORKAROUND=True TRIGGER=true
       addons:
         apt:
           sources: [ 'ubuntu-toolchain-r-test']
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ before_script:
 
 script:
  - export SCONSFLAGS='--debug=time'
- - configure BENCHMARK=${BENCH}
+ - configure BENCHMARK=${BENCH} ENABLE_GLIBC_WORKAROUND=${ENABLE_GLIBC_WORKAROUND:-False}
  - cat config.log
  # we limit the `make` to 40 min
  # to ensure that slow builds still upload their
@@ -106,6 +106,9 @@ script:
  # (and might work) for the next build
  - DURATION=2400
  - scripts/travis-command-wrapper.py -s "date" -i 120 --deadline=$(( $(date +%s) + ${DURATION} )) make
+ # dump glibcxx symbols >= 3.4.20 (if this returns output
+ # then it means the binaries will not run on ubuntu trusty without upgrading libstdc++)
+ - nm src/libmapnik* | grep "GLIBCXX_3.4.2[0-9]" || true
  - RESULT=0
  - make test || RESULT=$?
  # we allow visual failures with g++ for now: https://github.com/mapnik/mapnik/issues/3567
diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 3cdc268ad..d81154096 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ opts.AddVariables(
     BoolVariable('USE_CONFIG', "Use SCons user '%s' file (will also write variables after successful configuration)", 'True'),
     BoolVariable('NO_ATEXIT', 'Will prevent Singletons from being deleted atexit of main thread', 'False'),
     BoolVariable('NO_DLCLOSE', 'Will prevent plugins from being unloaded', 'False'),
+    BoolVariable('ENABLE_GLIBC_WORKAROUND', "Workaround known GLIBC symbol exports to allow building against libstdc++-4.8 without binaries needing throw_out_of_range_fmt", 'False'),
     # http://www.scons.org/wiki/GoFastButton
     # http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1318863/how-to-optimize-an-scons-script
     BoolVariable('FAST', "Make SCons faster at the cost of less precise dependency tracking", 'False'),
@@ -1879,6 +1880,9 @@ if not preconfigured:
         if env['NO_DLCLOSE'] or env['COVERAGE']:
             env.Append(CPPDEFINES = '-DMAPNIK_NO_DLCLOSE')
 
+        if env['ENABLE_GLIBC_WORKAROUND']:
+            env.Append(CPPDEFINES = '-DMAPNIK_ENABLE_GLIBC_WORKAROUND')
+
         # Mac OSX (Darwin) special settings
         if env['PLATFORM'] == 'Darwin':
             pthread = ''
diff --git a/bootstrap.sh b/bootstrap.sh
index c5a4dc50c..f877c8c8f 100755
--- a/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/bootstrap.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ todo
 - shrink icu data
 '
 
-MASON_VERSION="v0.11.1"
+MASON_VERSION="7026e94"
 
 function setup_mason() {
     if [[ ! -d ./.mason ]]; then
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ function install() {
 }
 
 ICU_VERSION="57.1"
+BOOST_VERSION="1.64.0"
 
 function install_mason_deps() {
     install ccache 3.3.1
@@ -61,15 +62,15 @@ function install_mason_deps() {
     install cairo 1.14.8 libcairo
     install webp 0.6.0 libwebp
     install libgdal 2.1.3 libgdal
-    install boost 1.63.0
-    install boost_libsystem 1.63.0
-    install boost_libfilesystem 1.63.0
-    install boost_libprogram_options 1.63.0
-    install boost_libregex_icu57 1.63.0
+    install boost ${BOOST_VERSION}
+    install boost_libsystem ${BOOST_VERSION}
+    install boost_libfilesystem ${BOOST_VERSION}
+    install boost_libprogram_options ${BOOST_VERSION}
+    install boost_libregex_icu57 ${BOOST_VERSION}
     # technically boost thread and python are not a core dep, but installing
     # here by default helps make python-mapnik builds easier
-    install boost_libthread 1.63.0
-    install boost_libpython 1.63.0
+    install boost_libthread ${BOOST_VERSION}
+    install boost_libpython ${BOOST_VERSION}
     install freetype 2.7.1 libfreetype
     install harfbuzz 1.4.4-ft libharfbuzz
 }
diff --git a/circle.yml b/circle.yml
index 5624c66ae..02c414772 100644
--- a/circle.yml
+++ b/circle.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ database:
     - ./.mason/mason link clang++ ${LLVM_VERSION}
     - ./configure CC="$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link/bin/clang" CXX="$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link/bin/ccache $(pwd)/mason_packages/.link/bin/clang++ -Qunused-arguments"
     - make
+    - nm src/libmapnik* | grep "GLIBCXX_3.4.2[0-9]" || true
   override:
     - psql -c 'create database template_postgis;'
     - psql -c 'create extension postgis;' -d template_postgis
diff --git a/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp b/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp
index 4d504a8ff..e8bb492a0 100644
--- a/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp
+++ b/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ namespace mapnik
 {
 template class MAPNIK_DECL singleton<freetype_engine, CreateUsingNew>;
 
+
 bool freetype_engine::is_font_file(std::string const& file_name)
 {
     // only accept files that will be matched by freetype2's `figurefiletype()`
diff --git a/src/glibc_workaround.cpp b/src/glibc_workaround.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c07a22d9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/glibc_workaround.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#ifdef __linux__
+
+#ifdef MAPNIK_ENABLE_GLIBC_WORKAROUND
+
+#include <stdexcept>
+
+// https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/4042
+// allows building against libstdc++-dev-4.9 while avoiding
+// GLIBCXX_3.4.20 dep
+// This is needed because libstdc++ itself uses this API - its not
+// just an issue of your code using it, ughhh
+
+namespace std
+{
+
+void __throw_out_of_range_fmt(const char *, ...) __attribute__((__noreturn__));
+void __throw_out_of_range_fmt(const char *err, ...)
+{
+    // Safe and over-simplified version. Ignore the format and print it as-is.
+    __throw_out_of_range(err);
+}
+}
+
+#endif // MAPNIK_ENABLE_GLIBC_WORKAROUND
+
+#endif // __linux__