diff --git a/tools/smoketest.sh b/tools/smoketest.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..ec2f5601
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/smoketest.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Simple test that compiles and runs ircd, verifying that certain aspects of
+# PRIVMSG work.
+
+case $# in
+1) ;;
+*) printf 'Usage: %s tarball\n' "$0" >&2; exit 64 ;;
+esac
+cr=$(printf '\r')
+rc=0 ircdpid= tarball=${1:?}
+case $tarball in
+/*)	;;
+*)	tarball=$PWD/$tarball ;;
+esac
+dir=$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/ircdtest.XXXXXXXXXX") || exit 2
+trap '[ -z "$ircdpid" ] || kill $ircdpid; rm -rf "$dir"' 0
+cd "$dir" || exit 2
+tar xjf "$tarball" || exit 2
+srcdir=${tarball##*/}
+srcdir=${srcdir%.tbz2}
+srcdir=${srcdir%.tgz}
+srcdir=${srcdir%.tar.*}
+srcdir=${srcdir%.tar}
+cd "$srcdir" || exit 2
+prefix=$dir/prefix
+./configure --prefix="$prefix" >"$dir/out" 2>&1 || { cat "$dir/out"; exit 2; }
+make -j2 >"$dir/out" 2>&1 || { cat "$dir/out"; exit 2; }
+make install >"$dir/out" 2>&1 || { cat "$dir/out"; exit 2; }
+cd "$prefix" || exit 2
+servername=smoke$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S).test
+port=$(date +50%S)
+sed -e '/^serverinfo/,/^}/s/name = ".*";/name = "'"$servername"'";/' \
+	-e '/^listen/,/^}/s/port = .*;/port = '"$port"';/' \
+	etc/example.conf >etc/ircd.conf || exit 2
+bin/ircd || exit 2
+ircdpid=$(cat etc/ircd.pid) || exit 2
+cd "$dir" || exit 2
+echo "Will use servername $servername port $port, pid is $ircdpid"
+{
+	echo 'USER testu . . :Test user'
+	echo 'NICK test1'
+	sleep 1
+	echo 'JOIN #test'
+	sleep 1
+	echo "PRIVMSG #test :channel message via $servername"
+	echo "PRIVMSG @#test :chanops 1 via $servername"
+	echo "MODE #test +o test2"
+	echo "PRIVMSG @#test :chanops 2 via $servername"
+	sleep 1
+	echo "QUIT"
+} | nc 127.0.0.1 "$port" >out1 &
+{
+	echo 'NICK test2'
+	echo 'USER testu2 . . :Test user'
+	sleep 1
+	echo 'JOIN #test'
+	echo "PRIVMSG test1 :private message via $servername"
+	sleep 2
+	echo "QUIT :Bye"
+} | nc 127.0.0.1 "$port" >out2 &
+wait
+if ! grep -q "^:$servername 001 test1 :" out1; then
+	echo "FAIL: Missing 001 in out1 or wrong server"
+	rc=1
+fi
+if ! grep -q "^:$servername 001 test2 :" out2; then
+	echo "FAIL: Missing 001 in out2 or wrong server"
+	rc=1
+fi
+if ! grep -q "^:test2!.*@.* PRIVMSG test1 :private message via $servername$cr\$" out1; then
+	echo "FAIL: Missing private message in out1"
+	rc=1
+fi
+if ! grep -q "^:test1!.*@.* PRIVMSG #test :channel message via $servername$cr\$" out2; then
+	echo "FAIL: Missing channel message in out2"
+	rc=1
+fi
+if grep -q "chanops 1 via" out2; then
+	echo "FAIL: Wrong chanops message in out2"
+	rc=1
+fi
+if ! grep -q "^:test1!.* MODE #test +o test2[[:space:]]*$cr\$" out1; then
+	echo "FAIL: Missing mode in out1"
+	rc=1
+fi
+if ! grep -q "^:test1!.* MODE #test +o test2[[:space:]]*$cr\$" out2; then
+	echo "FAIL: Missing mode in out2"
+	rc=1
+fi
+if ! grep -q "^:test1!.* PRIVMSG @#test :chanops 2 via $servername$cr\$" out2; then
+	echo "FAIL: Missing chanops message in out2"
+	rc=1
+fi
+if [ "$rc" -ne 0 ] && [ -t 0 ] && [ -t 1 ] && [ -t 2 ]; then
+	echo 'Starting shell for investigation...'
+	PS1='ircd-smoketest$ ' sh -i
+fi
+if [ "$rc" -eq 0 ]; then
+	echo 'PASS'
+fi
+exit $rc