diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..26c29d38d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[submodule "evmjit"]
+	path = evmjit
+	url = https://github.com/ethereum/evmjit
+	branch = develop
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5763c9b85..df33ca0e8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ function(createDefaultCacheConfig)
 	set(VMTRACE OFF CACHE BOOL "VM tracing and run-time checks (useful for cross-implementation VM debugging)")
 	set(PARANOIA OFF CACHE BOOL "Additional run-time checks")
 	set(JSONRPC ON CACHE BOOL "Build with jsonprc. default on")
+	set(EVMJIT OFF CACHE BOOL "Build a just-in-time compiler for EVM code (requires LLVM)")
 endfunction()
 
 
@@ -38,6 +39,10 @@ function(configureProject)
 			message(FATAL_ERROR "VM tracing requires debug.")
 		endif ()
 	endif ()
+
+	if (EVMJIT)
+		add_definitions(-DETH_EVMJIT)
+	endif()
 endfunction()
 
 
@@ -84,7 +89,7 @@ cmake_policy(SET CMP0015 NEW)
 
 createDefaultCacheConfig()
 configureProject()
-message("-- VMTRACE: ${VMTRACE}; PARANOIA: ${PARANOIA}; HEADLESS: ${HEADLESS}; JSONRPC: ${JSONRPC}")
+message("-- VMTRACE: ${VMTRACE}; PARANOIA: ${PARANOIA}; HEADLESS: ${HEADLESS}; JSONRPC: ${JSONRPC}; EVMJIT: ${EVMJIT}")
 
 
 # Default TARGET_PLATFORM to "linux".
@@ -151,6 +156,10 @@ if (NOT HEADLESS)
 	
 endif()
 
+if (EVMJIT)
+	add_subdirectory(evmjit)
+endif()
+
 enable_testing()
 add_test(NAME alltests WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/test COMMAND testeth)
 
diff --git a/evmjit b/evmjit
new file mode 160000
index 000000000..ed63ced24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/evmjit
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit ed63ced24456c28b6dba345b8fc61e680ed406d7
diff --git a/libdevcore/CommonIO.cpp b/libdevcore/CommonIO.cpp
index 8fc4fedb3..ec8ca605c 100644
--- a/libdevcore/CommonIO.cpp
+++ b/libdevcore/CommonIO.cpp
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ bytes dev::contents(std::string const& _file)
 	// get length of file:
 	is.seekg (0, is.end);
 	streamoff length = is.tellg();
+	if (length == 0) // return early, MSVC does not like reading 0 bytes
+		return {};
 	is.seekg (0, is.beg);
 	bytes ret(length);
 	is.read((char*)ret.data(), length);
diff --git a/libevm/CMakeLists.txt b/libevm/CMakeLists.txt
index 96b8f9ade..4af5eb175 100644
--- a/libevm/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/libevm/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE} ethcore)
 target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE} devcrypto)
 target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE} evmcore)
 target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE} devcore)
+if (EVMJIT)
+	target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE} evmjit-cpp)
+endif()
 
 install( TARGETS ${EXECUTABLE} ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib LIBRARY DESTINATION lib )
 install( FILES ${HEADERS} DESTINATION include/${EXECUTABLE} )
diff --git a/libevm/VMFactory.cpp b/libevm/VMFactory.cpp
index af37ec710..b6549ba04 100644
--- a/libevm/VMFactory.cpp
+++ b/libevm/VMFactory.cpp
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@
 #include "VMFactory.h"
 #include "VM.h"
 
+#if ETH_EVMJIT
+#include <evmjit/libevmjit-cpp/JitVM.h>
+#endif
+
 namespace dev
 {
 namespace eth
@@ -34,8 +38,12 @@ void VMFactory::setKind(VMKind _kind)
 
 std::unique_ptr<VMFace> VMFactory::create(u256 _gas)
 {
-	asserts(g_kind == VMKind::Interpreter && "Only interpreter supported for now");
+#if ETH_EVMJIT
+	return std::unique_ptr<VMFace>(g_kind == VMKind::JIT ? (VMFace*)new JitVM(_gas) : new VM(_gas));
+#else
+	asserts(g_kind == VMKind::Interpreter && "JIT disabled in build configuration");
 	return std::unique_ptr<VMFace>(new VM(_gas));
+#endif
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/test/TestHelper.cpp b/test/TestHelper.cpp
index b700b65a7..ea848c7ce 100644
--- a/test/TestHelper.cpp
+++ b/test/TestHelper.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <boost/filesystem/path.hpp>
 #include <libethereum/Client.h>
 #include <liblll/Compiler.h>
+#include <libevm/VMFactory.h>
 
 using namespace std;
 using namespace dev::eth;
@@ -330,7 +331,7 @@ void checkStorage(map<u256, u256> _expectedStore, map<u256, u256> _resultStore,
 		}
 	}
 	BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(_resultStore.size(), _expectedStore.size());
-	for (auto&& resultStorePair : _resultStore)
+	for (auto&& resultStorePair: _resultStore)
 	{
 		if (!_expectedStore.count(resultStorePair.first))
 			BOOST_ERROR(_expectedAddr << ": unexpected store key " << resultStorePair.first);
@@ -472,4 +473,20 @@ void executeTests(const string& _name, const string& _testPathAppendix, std::fun
 	}
 }
 
+
+void processCommandLineOptions()
+{
+	auto argc = boost::unit_test::framework::master_test_suite().argc;
+	auto argv = boost::unit_test::framework::master_test_suite().argv;
+
+	for (auto i =  0; i < argc; ++i)
+	{
+		if (std::string(argv[i]) == "--jit")
+		{
+			eth::VMFactory::setKind(eth::VMKind::JIT);
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 } } // namespaces
diff --git a/test/TestHelper.h b/test/TestHelper.h
index 3203eae83..20328c913 100644
--- a/test/TestHelper.h
+++ b/test/TestHelper.h
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ void checkLog(eth::LogEntries _resultLogs, eth::LogEntries _expectedLogs);
 void executeTests(const std::string& _name, const std::string& _testPathAppendix, std::function<void(json_spirit::mValue&, bool)> doTests);
 std::string getTestPath();
 void userDefinedTest(std::string testTypeFlag, std::function<void(json_spirit::mValue&, bool)> doTests);
+void processCommandLineOptions();
 
 template<typename mapType>
 void checkAddresses(mapType& _expectedAddrs, mapType& _resultAddrs)
diff --git a/test/createRandomTest.cpp b/test/createRandomTest.cpp
index a11688457..1af12f64d 100644
--- a/test/createRandomTest.cpp
+++ b/test/createRandomTest.cpp
@@ -1,18 +1,18 @@
 /*
-    This file is part of cpp-ethereum.
+	This file is part of cpp-ethereum.
 
-    cpp-ethereum is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
-    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-    (at your option) any later version.
+	cpp-ethereum is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+	it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+	the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+	(at your option) any later version.
 
-    cpp-ethereum 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 for more details.
+	cpp-ethereum 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 for more details.
 
-    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
-    along with cpp-ethereum.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+	You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+	along with cpp-ethereum.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */
 /** @file createRandomTest.cpp
  * @author Christoph Jentzsch <jentzsch.simulationsoftware@gmail.com>
diff --git a/test/state.cpp b/test/state.cpp
index d8a3dd283..b1ad8d44e 100644
--- a/test/state.cpp
+++ b/test/state.cpp
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ namespace dev {  namespace test {
 
 void doStateTests(json_spirit::mValue& v, bool _fillin)
 {
+	processCommandLineOptions();
+
 	for (auto& i: v.get_obj())
 	{
 		cerr << i.first << endl;
diff --git a/test/vm.cpp b/test/vm.cpp
index 010eb4d75..920f0582c 100644
--- a/test/vm.cpp
+++ b/test/vm.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
  * vm test functions.
  */
 
+#include <chrono>
 #include <boost/filesystem.hpp>
 #include <libethereum/Executive.h>
 #include <libevm/VMFactory.h>
@@ -308,6 +309,8 @@ namespace dev { namespace test {
 
 void doVMTests(json_spirit::mValue& v, bool _fillin)
 {
+	processCommandLineOptions();
+
 	for (auto& i: v.get_obj())
 	{
 		cnote << i.first;
@@ -317,7 +320,7 @@ void doVMTests(json_spirit::mValue& v, bool _fillin)
 		BOOST_REQUIRE(o.count("pre") > 0);
 		BOOST_REQUIRE(o.count("exec") > 0);
 
-		dev::test::FakeExtVM fev;
+		FakeExtVM fev;
 		fev.importEnv(o["env"].get_obj());
 		fev.importState(o["pre"].get_obj());
 
@@ -332,12 +335,12 @@ void doVMTests(json_spirit::mValue& v, bool _fillin)
 		}
 
 		bytes output;
-		auto vm = eth::VMFactory::create(fev.gas);
-
 		u256 gas;
 		bool vmExceptionOccured = false;
+		auto startTime = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
 		try
 		{
+			auto vm = eth::VMFactory::create(fev.gas);
 			output = vm->go(fev, fev.simpleTrace()).toBytes();
 			gas = vm->gas();
 		}
@@ -357,6 +360,21 @@ void doVMTests(json_spirit::mValue& v, bool _fillin)
 			BOOST_ERROR("Failed VM Test with Exception: " << _e.what());
 		}
 
+		auto endTime = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+		auto argc = boost::unit_test::framework::master_test_suite().argc;
+		auto argv = boost::unit_test::framework::master_test_suite().argv;
+		for (auto i = 0; i < argc; ++i)
+		{	       
+			if (std::string(argv[i]) == "--show-times")
+			{
+				auto testDuration = endTime - startTime;
+				cnote << "Execution time: "
+				      << std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(testDuration).count()
+				      << " ms";
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+
 		// delete null entries in storage for the sake of comparison
 
 		for (auto  &a: fev.addresses)