diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3cae07ed12fb99adfecd0f135675fab3cf473803..0bde146765618bab73fbe1d1ee629b2db6bb2237 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,8 +1,15 @@
+# C/C++ build outputs
 bins
-coverage
-deps
-*.gcno
 gens
 libs
 objs
+
+# gcov coverage data
+coverage
+*.gcno
+
+# profiler output
+*.prof
+
+# python compiled objects
 *.pyc
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b43cb734ba5cfec098a2f9e9bee15b04af3d02c8..ab1ba14bb34ee88220a041184ae25511278fae48 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -172,6 +172,13 @@ endif
 
 OPENSSL_ALPN_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/openssl-alpn.c -lssl -lcrypto -ldl $(LDFLAGS)
 ZLIB_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/zlib.c -lz $(LDFLAGS)
+PERFTOOLS_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/perftools.c -lprofiler $(LDFLAGS)
+
+HAS_SYSTEM_PERFTOOLS = $(shell $(PERFTOOLS_CHECK_CMD) 2> /dev/null && echo true || echo false)
+ifeq ($(HAS_SYSTEM_PERFTOOLS),true)
+DEFINES += GRPC_HAVE_PERFTOOLS
+LIBS += profiler
+endif
 
 ifndef REQUIRE_CUSTOM_LIBRARIES_$(CONFIG)
 HAS_SYSTEM_OPENSSL_ALPN = $(shell $(OPENSSL_ALPN_CHECK_CMD) 2> /dev/null && echo true || echo false)
diff --git a/templates/Makefile.template b/templates/Makefile.template
index 25bc4069a1b326d5626d521f801b64eaf1f4a4d5..5f20bd7f35d1389a2090fd13092f96656e652c46 100644
--- a/templates/Makefile.template
+++ b/templates/Makefile.template
@@ -189,6 +189,13 @@ endif
 
 OPENSSL_ALPN_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/openssl-alpn.c -lssl -lcrypto -ldl $(LDFLAGS)
 ZLIB_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/zlib.c -lz $(LDFLAGS)
+PERFTOOLS_CHECK_CMD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o /dev/null test/build/perftools.c -lprofiler $(LDFLAGS)
+
+HAS_SYSTEM_PERFTOOLS = $(shell $(PERFTOOLS_CHECK_CMD) 2> /dev/null && echo true || echo false)
+ifeq ($(HAS_SYSTEM_PERFTOOLS),true)
+DEFINES += GRPC_HAVE_PERFTOOLS
+LIBS += profiler
+endif
 
 ifndef REQUIRE_CUSTOM_LIBRARIES_$(CONFIG)
 HAS_SYSTEM_OPENSSL_ALPN = $(shell $(OPENSSL_ALPN_CHECK_CMD) 2> /dev/null && echo true || echo false)
diff --git a/test/build/perftools.c b/test/build/perftools.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..03548b4c7ef198cc5a5b1eaa597360805c33a501
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/build/perftools.c
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#include <gperftools/profiler.h>
+
+int main() {
+  ProfilerStart("/dev/null");
+  ProfilerStop();
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/test/core/util/grpc_profiler.c b/test/core/util/grpc_profiler.c
index 340b2d53b96477bdfeac3207fd72985558866a92..489d34396a4e048c2994002c35dd661d6c4e1f1f 100644
--- a/test/core/util/grpc_profiler.c
+++ b/test/core/util/grpc_profiler.c
@@ -33,6 +33,15 @@
 
 #include "test/core/util/grpc_profiler.h"
 
+#if GRPC_HAVE_PERFTOOLS
+#include <gperftools/profiler.h>
+
+void grpc_profiler_start(const char *filename) { ProfilerStart(filename); }
+
+void grpc_profiler_stop() { ProfilerStop(); }
+#else
+
 void grpc_profiler_start(const char *filename) {}
 
 void grpc_profiler_stop(void) {}
+#endif