--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/truffle/com.oracle.truffle.api.test/src/com/oracle/truffle/api/test/vm/GlobalSymbolTest.java	Thu Aug 13 10:27:30 2015 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2015, 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+package com.oracle.truffle.api.test.vm;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import java.io.*;
+
+import org.junit.*;
+
+import static com.oracle.truffle.api.test.vm.ImplicitExplicitExportTest.L3;
+import com.oracle.truffle.api.vm.*;
+
+public class GlobalSymbolTest {
+    @Test
+    public void globalSymbolFoundByLanguage() throws IOException {
+        TruffleVM vm = TruffleVM.newVM().globalSymbol("ahoj", "42").build();
+        // @formatter:off
+        Object ret = vm.eval(L3,
+            "return=ahoj"
+        );
+        // @formatter:on
+        assertEquals("42", ret);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void globalSymbolFoundByVMUser() throws IOException {
+        TruffleVM vm = TruffleVM.newVM().globalSymbol("ahoj", "42").build();
+        TruffleVM.Symbol ret = vm.findGlobalSymbol("ahoj");
+        assertNotNull("Symbol found", ret);
+        assertEquals("42", ret.invoke(null));
+    }
+}

--- a/truffle/com.oracle.truffle.api.test/src/com/oracle/truffle/api/test/vm/ImplicitExplicitExportTest.java	Thu Aug 13 09:42:06 2015 +0200
+++ b/truffle/com.oracle.truffle.api.test/src/com/oracle/truffle/api/test/vm/ImplicitExplicitExportTest.java	Thu Aug 13 10:27:30 2015 +0200
@@ -212,8 +212,8 @@
     }
 
     static final String L1 = "application/x-test-import-export-1";
-    private static final String L2 = "application/x-test-import-export-2";
-    private static final String L3 = "application/x-test-import-export-3";
+    static final String L2 = "application/x-test-import-export-2";
+    static final String L3 = "application/x-test-import-export-3";
 
     @TruffleLanguage.Registration(mimeType = L1, name = "ImportExport1", version = "0")
     public static final class ExportImportLanguage1 extends AbstractExportImportLanguage {

--- a/truffle/com.oracle.truffle.api/src/com/oracle/truffle/api/vm/TruffleVM.java	Thu Aug 13 09:42:06 2015 +0200
+++ b/truffle/com.oracle.truffle.api/src/com/oracle/truffle/api/vm/TruffleVM.java	Thu Aug 13 10:27:30 2015 +0200
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
     private final Writer err;
     private final Writer out;
     private final EventConsumer<?>[] handlers;
+    private final Map<String, Object> globals;
     private Debugger debugger;
 
     /**
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@
         this.out = null;
         this.langs = null;
         this.handlers = null;
+        this.globals = null;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -85,12 +87,13 @@
      * @param err stderr
      * @param in stdin
      */
-    private TruffleVM(Writer out, Writer err, Reader in, EventConsumer<?>[] handlers) {
+    private TruffleVM(Map<String, Object> globals, Writer out, Writer err, Reader in, EventConsumer<?>[] handlers) {
         this.out = out;
         this.err = err;
         this.in = in;
         this.handlers = handlers;
         this.initThread = Thread.currentThread();
+        this.globals = new HashMap<>(globals);
         this.langs = new HashMap<>();
         Enumeration<URL> en;
         try {
@@ -173,7 +176,8 @@
         private Writer out;
         private Writer err;
         private Reader in;
-        private List<EventConsumer<?>> handlers = new ArrayList<>();
+        private final List<EventConsumer<?>> handlers = new ArrayList<>();
+        private final Map<String, Object> globals = new HashMap<>();
 
         Builder() {
         }
@@ -228,6 +232,25 @@
         }
 
         /**
+         * Adds global named symbol into the configuration of to-be-built {@link TruffleVM}. This
+         * symbol will be accessible to all languages via {@link Env#importSymbol(java.lang.String)}
+         * and will take precedence over
+         * {@link TruffleLanguage#findExportedSymbol(java.lang.Object, java.lang.String, boolean)
+         * symbols exported by languages itself}. Repeated use of <code>globalSymbol</code> is
+         * possible; later definition of the same name overrides the previous one.
+         * 
+         * @param name name of the symbol to register
+         * @param obj value of the object - expected to be primitive wrapper, {@link String} or
+         *            <code>TruffleObject</code> for mutual inter-operability
+         * @return instance of this builder
+         * @see TruffleVM#findGlobalSymbol(java.lang.String)
+         */
+        public Builder globalSymbol(String name, Object obj) {
+            globals.put(name, obj);
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        /**
          * Creates the {@link TruffleVM Truffle virtual machine}. The configuration is taken from
          * values passed into configuration methods in this class.
          *
@@ -243,7 +266,7 @@
             if (in == null) {
                 in = new InputStreamReader(System.in);
             }
-            return new TruffleVM(out, err, in, handlers.toArray(new EventConsumer[0]));
+            return new TruffleVM(globals, out, err, in, handlers.toArray(new EventConsumer[0]));
         }
     }
 
@@ -363,15 +386,17 @@
     public Symbol findGlobalSymbol(String globalName) {
         checkThread();
         TruffleLanguage<?> lang = null;
-        Object obj = null;
+        Object obj = globals.get(globalName);
         Object global = null;
-        for (Language dl : langs.values()) {
-            TruffleLanguage<?> l = dl.getImpl();
-            obj = SPI.findExportedSymbol(dl.env, globalName, true);
-            if (obj != null) {
-                lang = l;
-                global = SPI.languageGlobal(dl.env);
-                break;
+        if (obj == null) {
+            for (Language dl : langs.values()) {
+                TruffleLanguage<?> l = dl.getImpl();
+                obj = SPI.findExportedSymbol(dl.env, globalName, true);
+                if (obj != null) {
+                    lang = l;
+                    global = SPI.languageGlobal(dl.env);
+                    break;
+                }
             }
         }
         if (obj == null) {
@@ -597,6 +622,10 @@
     private static class SPIAccessor extends Accessor {
         @Override
         public Object importSymbol(TruffleVM vm, TruffleLanguage<?> ownLang, String globalName) {
+            Object g = vm.globals.get(globalName);
+            if (g != null) {
+                return g;
+            }
             Set<Language> uniqueLang = new LinkedHashSet<>(vm.langs.values());
             for (Language dl : uniqueLang) {
                 TruffleLanguage<?> l = dl.getImpl();