diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 22d473a3f..b22661be4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,3 +14,4 @@ doc/manual/_build
 /.coverage
 examples/master/results
 Output/
+/lit-test/libartiq_personality/libartiq_personality.so
diff --git a/artiq/compiler/testbench/jit.py b/artiq/compiler/testbench/jit.py
index 1275b23e9..6c59b7043 100644
--- a/artiq/compiler/testbench/jit.py
+++ b/artiq/compiler/testbench/jit.py
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ llvm.initialize_native_asmprinter()
 llvm.check_jit_execution()
 
 def main():
+    while sys.argv[1].startswith("+"):
+        if sys.argv[1] == "+load":
+            llvm.load_library_permanently(sys.argv[2])
+            del sys.argv[1:3]
+
     def process_diagnostic(diag):
         print("\n".join(diag.render()))
         if diag.level in ("fatal", "error"):
diff --git a/lit-test/libartiq_personality/Makefile b/lit-test/libartiq_personality/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3ef94aeb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lit-test/libartiq_personality/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+CC ?= clang
+
+libartiq_personality.so: ../../soc/runtime/artiq_personality.c
+	$(CC) -Wall -Werror -I. -fPIC -shared -o $@ $<
diff --git a/lit-test/libartiq_personality/__cxxabi_config.h b/lit-test/libartiq_personality/__cxxabi_config.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..42cd6fe5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lit-test/libartiq_personality/__cxxabi_config.h
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+#define LIBCXXABI_ARM_EHABI 0
diff --git a/lit-test/libartiq_personality/unwind.h b/lit-test/libartiq_personality/unwind.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..86001bbb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lit-test/libartiq_personality/unwind.h
@@ -0,0 +1,329 @@
+//===------------------------------- unwind.h -----------------------------===//
+//
+//                     The LLVM Compiler Infrastructure
+//
+// This file is dual licensed under the MIT and the University of Illinois Open
+// Source Licenses. See LICENSE.TXT for details.
+//
+//
+// C++ ABI Level 1 ABI documented at:
+//   http://mentorembedded.github.io/cxx-abi/abi-eh.html
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#ifndef __UNWIND_H__
+#define __UNWIND_H__
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stddef.h>
+
+#if defined(__APPLE__)
+#define LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL __attribute__ (( unavailable ))
+#else
+#define LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL
+#endif
+
+#include <__cxxabi_config.h>
+
+typedef enum {
+  _URC_NO_REASON = 0,
+  _URC_OK = 0,
+  _URC_FOREIGN_EXCEPTION_CAUGHT = 1,
+  _URC_FATAL_PHASE2_ERROR = 2,
+  _URC_FATAL_PHASE1_ERROR = 3,
+  _URC_NORMAL_STOP = 4,
+  _URC_END_OF_STACK = 5,
+  _URC_HANDLER_FOUND = 6,
+  _URC_INSTALL_CONTEXT = 7,
+  _URC_CONTINUE_UNWIND = 8,
+#if LIBCXXABI_ARM_EHABI
+  _URC_FAILURE = 9
+#endif
+} _Unwind_Reason_Code;
+
+typedef enum {
+  _UA_SEARCH_PHASE = 1,
+  _UA_CLEANUP_PHASE = 2,
+  _UA_HANDLER_FRAME = 4,
+  _UA_FORCE_UNWIND = 8,
+  _UA_END_OF_STACK = 16 // gcc extension to C++ ABI
+} _Unwind_Action;
+
+typedef struct _Unwind_Context _Unwind_Context;   // opaque
+
+#if LIBCXXABI_ARM_EHABI
+typedef uint32_t _Unwind_State;
+
+static const _Unwind_State _US_VIRTUAL_UNWIND_FRAME   = 0;
+static const _Unwind_State _US_UNWIND_FRAME_STARTING  = 1;
+static const _Unwind_State _US_UNWIND_FRAME_RESUME    = 2;
+/* Undocumented flag for force unwinding. */
+static const _Unwind_State _US_FORCE_UNWIND           = 8;
+
+typedef uint32_t _Unwind_EHT_Header;
+
+struct _Unwind_Control_Block;
+typedef struct _Unwind_Control_Block _Unwind_Control_Block;
+typedef struct _Unwind_Control_Block _Unwind_Exception; /* Alias */
+
+struct _Unwind_Control_Block {
+  uint64_t exception_class;
+  void (*exception_cleanup)(_Unwind_Reason_Code, _Unwind_Control_Block*);
+
+  /* Unwinder cache, private fields for the unwinder's use */
+  struct {
+    uint32_t reserved1; /* init reserved1 to 0, then don't touch */
+    uint32_t reserved2;
+    uint32_t reserved3;
+    uint32_t reserved4;
+    uint32_t reserved5;
+  } unwinder_cache;
+
+  /* Propagation barrier cache (valid after phase 1): */
+  struct {
+    uint32_t sp;
+    uint32_t bitpattern[5];
+  } barrier_cache;
+
+  /* Cleanup cache (preserved over cleanup): */
+  struct {
+    uint32_t bitpattern[4];
+  } cleanup_cache;
+
+  /* Pr cache (for pr's benefit): */
+  struct {
+    uint32_t fnstart; /* function start address */
+    _Unwind_EHT_Header* ehtp; /* pointer to EHT entry header word */
+    uint32_t additional;
+    uint32_t reserved1;
+  } pr_cache;
+
+  long long int :0; /* Enforce the 8-byte alignment */
+};
+
+typedef _Unwind_Reason_Code (*_Unwind_Stop_Fn)
+      (_Unwind_State state,
+       _Unwind_Exception* exceptionObject,
+       struct _Unwind_Context* context);
+
+typedef _Unwind_Reason_Code (*__personality_routine)
+      (_Unwind_State state,
+       _Unwind_Exception* exceptionObject,
+       struct _Unwind_Context* context);
+#else
+struct _Unwind_Context;   // opaque
+struct _Unwind_Exception; // forward declaration
+typedef struct _Unwind_Exception _Unwind_Exception;
+
+struct _Unwind_Exception {
+  uint64_t exception_class;
+  void (*exception_cleanup)(_Unwind_Reason_Code reason,
+                            _Unwind_Exception *exc);
+  uintptr_t private_1; // non-zero means forced unwind
+  uintptr_t private_2; // holds sp that phase1 found for phase2 to use
+#ifndef __LP64__
+  // The gcc implementation of _Unwind_Exception used attribute mode on the
+  // above fields which had the side effect of causing this whole struct to
+  // round up to 32 bytes in size. To be more explicit, we add pad fields
+  // added for binary compatibility.
+  uint32_t reserved[3];
+#endif
+};
+
+typedef _Unwind_Reason_Code (*_Unwind_Stop_Fn)
+    (int version,
+     _Unwind_Action actions,
+     uint64_t exceptionClass,
+     _Unwind_Exception* exceptionObject,
+     struct _Unwind_Context* context,
+     void* stop_parameter );
+
+typedef _Unwind_Reason_Code (*__personality_routine)
+      (int version,
+       _Unwind_Action actions,
+       uint64_t exceptionClass,
+       _Unwind_Exception* exceptionObject,
+       struct _Unwind_Context* context);
+#endif
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+//
+// The following are the base functions documented by the C++ ABI
+//
+#ifdef __USING_SJLJ_EXCEPTIONS__
+extern _Unwind_Reason_Code
+    _Unwind_SjLj_RaiseException(_Unwind_Exception *exception_object);
+extern void _Unwind_SjLj_Resume(_Unwind_Exception *exception_object);
+#else
+extern _Unwind_Reason_Code
+    _Unwind_RaiseException(_Unwind_Exception *exception_object);
+extern void _Unwind_Resume(_Unwind_Exception *exception_object);
+#endif
+extern void _Unwind_DeleteException(_Unwind_Exception *exception_object);
+
+#if LIBCXXABI_ARM_EHABI
+typedef enum {
+  _UVRSC_CORE = 0, /* integer register */
+  _UVRSC_VFP = 1, /* vfp */
+  _UVRSC_WMMXD = 3, /* Intel WMMX data register */
+  _UVRSC_WMMXC = 4 /* Intel WMMX control register */
+} _Unwind_VRS_RegClass;
+
+typedef enum {
+  _UVRSD_UINT32 = 0,
+  _UVRSD_VFPX = 1,
+  _UVRSD_UINT64 = 3,
+  _UVRSD_FLOAT = 4,
+  _UVRSD_DOUBLE = 5
+} _Unwind_VRS_DataRepresentation;
+
+typedef enum {
+  _UVRSR_OK = 0,
+  _UVRSR_NOT_IMPLEMENTED = 1,
+  _UVRSR_FAILED = 2
+} _Unwind_VRS_Result;
+
+extern void _Unwind_Complete(_Unwind_Exception* exception_object);
+
+extern _Unwind_VRS_Result
+_Unwind_VRS_Get(_Unwind_Context *context, _Unwind_VRS_RegClass regclass,
+                uint32_t regno, _Unwind_VRS_DataRepresentation representation,
+                void *valuep);
+
+extern _Unwind_VRS_Result
+_Unwind_VRS_Set(_Unwind_Context *context, _Unwind_VRS_RegClass regclass,
+                uint32_t regno, _Unwind_VRS_DataRepresentation representation,
+                void *valuep);
+
+extern _Unwind_VRS_Result
+_Unwind_VRS_Pop(_Unwind_Context *context, _Unwind_VRS_RegClass regclass,
+                uint32_t discriminator,
+                _Unwind_VRS_DataRepresentation representation);
+#endif
+
+extern uintptr_t _Unwind_GetGR(struct _Unwind_Context *context, int index);
+extern void _Unwind_SetGR(struct _Unwind_Context *context, int index,
+                          uintptr_t new_value);
+extern uintptr_t _Unwind_GetIP(struct _Unwind_Context *context);
+extern void _Unwind_SetIP(struct _Unwind_Context *, uintptr_t new_value);
+
+extern uintptr_t _Unwind_GetRegionStart(struct _Unwind_Context *context);
+extern uintptr_t
+    _Unwind_GetLanguageSpecificData(struct _Unwind_Context *context);
+#ifdef __USING_SJLJ_EXCEPTIONS__
+extern _Unwind_Reason_Code
+    _Unwind_SjLj_ForcedUnwind(_Unwind_Exception *exception_object,
+                              _Unwind_Stop_Fn stop, void *stop_parameter);
+#else
+extern _Unwind_Reason_Code
+    _Unwind_ForcedUnwind(_Unwind_Exception *exception_object,
+                         _Unwind_Stop_Fn stop, void *stop_parameter);
+#endif
+
+#ifdef __USING_SJLJ_EXCEPTIONS__
+typedef struct _Unwind_FunctionContext *_Unwind_FunctionContext_t;
+extern void _Unwind_SjLj_Register(_Unwind_FunctionContext_t fc);
+extern void _Unwind_SjLj_Unregister(_Unwind_FunctionContext_t fc);
+#endif
+
+//
+// The following are semi-suppoted extensions to the C++ ABI
+//
+
+//
+//  called by __cxa_rethrow().
+//
+#ifdef __USING_SJLJ_EXCEPTIONS__
+extern _Unwind_Reason_Code
+    _Unwind_SjLj_Resume_or_Rethrow(_Unwind_Exception *exception_object);
+#else
+extern _Unwind_Reason_Code
+    _Unwind_Resume_or_Rethrow(_Unwind_Exception *exception_object);
+#endif
+
+// _Unwind_Backtrace() is a gcc extension that walks the stack and calls the
+// _Unwind_Trace_Fn once per frame until it reaches the bottom of the stack
+// or the _Unwind_Trace_Fn function returns something other than _URC_NO_REASON.
+typedef _Unwind_Reason_Code (*_Unwind_Trace_Fn)(struct _Unwind_Context *,
+                                                void *);
+extern _Unwind_Reason_Code _Unwind_Backtrace(_Unwind_Trace_Fn, void *);
+
+// _Unwind_GetCFA is a gcc extension that can be called from within a
+// personality handler to get the CFA (stack pointer before call) of
+// current frame.
+extern uintptr_t _Unwind_GetCFA(struct _Unwind_Context *);
+
+
+// _Unwind_GetIPInfo is a gcc extension that can be called from within a
+// personality handler.  Similar to _Unwind_GetIP() but also returns in
+// *ipBefore a non-zero value if the instruction pointer is at or before the
+// instruction causing the unwind. Normally, in a function call, the IP returned
+// is the return address which is after the call instruction and may be past the
+// end of the function containing the call instruction.
+extern uintptr_t _Unwind_GetIPInfo(struct _Unwind_Context *context,
+                                   int *ipBefore);
+
+
+// __register_frame() is used with dynamically generated code to register the
+// FDE for a generated (JIT) code.  The FDE must use pc-rel addressing to point
+// to its function and optional LSDA.
+// __register_frame() has existed in all versions of Mac OS X, but in 10.4 and
+// 10.5 it was buggy and did not actually register the FDE with the unwinder.
+// In 10.6 and later it does register properly.
+extern void __register_frame(const void *fde);
+extern void __deregister_frame(const void *fde);
+
+// _Unwind_Find_FDE() will locate the FDE if the pc is in some function that has
+// an associated FDE. Note, Mac OS X 10.6 and later, introduces "compact unwind
+// info" which the runtime uses in preference to dwarf unwind info.  This
+// function will only work if the target function has an FDE but no compact
+// unwind info.
+struct dwarf_eh_bases {
+  uintptr_t tbase;
+  uintptr_t dbase;
+  uintptr_t func;
+};
+extern const void *_Unwind_Find_FDE(const void *pc, struct dwarf_eh_bases *);
+
+
+// This function attempts to find the start (address of first instruction) of
+// a function given an address inside the function.  It only works if the
+// function has an FDE (dwarf unwind info).
+// This function is unimplemented on Mac OS X 10.6 and later.  Instead, use
+// _Unwind_Find_FDE() and look at the dwarf_eh_bases.func result.
+extern void *_Unwind_FindEnclosingFunction(void *pc);
+
+// Mac OS X does not support text-rel and data-rel addressing so these functions
+// are unimplemented
+extern uintptr_t _Unwind_GetDataRelBase(struct _Unwind_Context *context)
+    LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL;
+extern uintptr_t _Unwind_GetTextRelBase(struct _Unwind_Context *context)
+    LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL;
+
+// Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 had implementations of these functions in
+// libgcc_s.dylib, but they never worked.
+/// These functions are no longer available on Mac OS X.
+extern void __register_frame_info_bases(const void *fde, void *ob, void *tb,
+                                        void *db) LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL;
+extern void __register_frame_info(const void *fde, void *ob)
+    LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL;
+extern void __register_frame_info_table_bases(const void *fde, void *ob,
+                                              void *tb, void *db)
+    LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL;
+extern void __register_frame_info_table(const void *fde, void *ob)
+    LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL;
+extern void __register_frame_table(const void *fde)
+    LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL;
+extern void *__deregister_frame_info(const void *fde)
+    LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL;
+extern void *__deregister_frame_info_bases(const void *fde)
+    LIBUNWIND_UNAVAIL;
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif // __UNWIND_H__
diff --git a/lit-test/test/exceptions/raise.py b/lit-test/test/exceptions/raise.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..307c50df4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lit-test/test/exceptions/raise.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# RUN: %python -m artiq.compiler.testbench.jit +load %personality %s
+# REQUIRES: exceptions
+
+1/0
diff --git a/lit-test/test/lit.cfg b/lit-test/test/lit.cfg
index 4662ffcc2..1d7478215 100644
--- a/lit-test/test/lit.cfg
+++ b/lit-test/test/lit.cfg
@@ -11,3 +11,13 @@ config.suffixes = ['.py']
 python_executable = 'python3'
 harness = '{} {}'.format(python_executable, os.path.join(root, 'harness.py'))
 config.substitutions.append( ('%python', harness) )
+
+if os.name == 'posix':
+    personality_build = os.path.join(root, 'libartiq_personality')
+    if subprocess.call(['make', '-sC', personality_build]) != 0:
+        lit_config.fatal("Unable to build JIT support library")
+
+    personality_lib = os.path.join(personality_build, 'libartiq_personality.so')
+    config.substitutions.append( ('%personality', personality_lib) )
+
+    config.available_features.add('exceptions')
diff --git a/soc/runtime/artiq_personality.c b/soc/runtime/artiq_personality.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..831abc82a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/soc/runtime/artiq_personality.c
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <unwind.h>
+
+struct artiq_exception {
+  const char *name;
+  const char *file;
+  int32_t line;
+  int32_t column;
+  const char *message;
+  int64_t param[3];
+};
+
+void __artiq_raise(struct artiq_exception *artiq_exn) {
+  printf("raised %s\n", artiq_exn->name);
+  abort();
+}
+
+_Unwind_Reason_Code __artiq_personality(int version,
+    _Unwind_Action actions, uint64_t exceptionClass,
+    struct _Unwind_Exception *exceptionObject,
+    struct _Unwind_Context *context) {
+  abort();
+}