diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index c58b339d..cc2fcb12 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,8 +30,6 @@ async-std = { version = "1.6.0", features = ["unstable"] }
 
 # features: hyperium/http
 http = { version = "0.2.0", optional = true }
-
-anyhow = "1.0.26"
 cookie = { version = "0.14.0", features = ["percent-encode"] }
 infer = "0.1.2"
 pin-project-lite = "0.1.0"
@@ -41,6 +39,8 @@ serde = { version = "1.0.106", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_urlencoded = "0.6.1"
 rand = "0.7.3"
 serde_qs = "0.6.0"
+backtrace = "0.3.50"
+stable-eyre = "0.2.1"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 http = "0.2.0"
diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b43a9787
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+use std::env;
+use std::fs;
+use std::path::Path;
+use std::process::{Command, ExitStatus, Stdio};
+
+// This build script is copied from
+// [anyhow](https://github.com/dtolnay/anyhow/blob/master/build.rs),
+// and is a type of feature detection to determine if the current rust
+// toolchain has backtraces available.
+//
+// It exercises the surface area that we expect of the std Backtrace
+// type. If the current toolchain is able to compile it, we enable a
+// backtrace compiler configuration flag in http-types. We then
+// conditionally require the compiler feature in src/lib.rs with
+// `#![cfg_attr(backtrace, feature(backtrace))]`
+// and gate our backtrace code behind `#[cfg(backtrace)]`
+
+const PROBE: &str = r#"
+    #![feature(backtrace)]
+    #![allow(dead_code)]
+
+    use std::backtrace::{Backtrace, BacktraceStatus};
+    use std::error::Error;
+    use std::fmt::{self, Display};
+
+    #[derive(Debug)]
+    struct E;
+
+    impl Display for E {
+        fn fmt(&self, _formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+            unimplemented!()
+        }
+    }
+
+    impl Error for E {
+        fn backtrace(&self) -> Option<&Backtrace> {
+            let backtrace = Backtrace::capture();
+            match backtrace.status() {
+                BacktraceStatus::Captured | BacktraceStatus::Disabled | _ => {}
+            }
+            unimplemented!()
+        }
+    }
+"#;
+
+fn main() {
+    match compile_probe() {
+        Some(status) if status.success() => println!("cargo:rustc-cfg=backtrace"),
+        _ => {}
+    }
+}
+
+fn compile_probe() -> Option<ExitStatus> {
+    let rustc = env::var_os("RUSTC")?;
+    let out_dir = env::var_os("OUT_DIR")?;
+    let probefile = Path::new(&out_dir).join("probe.rs");
+    fs::write(&probefile, PROBE).ok()?;
+    Command::new(rustc)
+        .stderr(Stdio::null())
+        .arg("--edition=2018")
+        .arg("--crate-name=http_types_build")
+        .arg("--crate-type=lib")
+        .arg("--emit=metadata")
+        .arg("--out-dir")
+        .arg(out_dir)
+        .arg(probefile)
+        .status()
+        .ok()
+}
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 8b887dce..1185bd9b 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 //! HTTP error types
 
-use std::error::Error as StdError;
-use std::fmt::{self, Debug, Display};
-
 use crate::StatusCode;
+use stable_eyre::{eyre, BacktraceExt};
+use std::error::Error as StdError;
+use std::{
+    fmt::{self, Debug, Display},
+    sync::Once,
+};
 
 /// A specialized `Result` type for HTTP operations.
 ///
@@ -13,17 +16,22 @@ pub type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, Error>;
 
 /// The error type for HTTP operations.
 pub struct Error {
-    error: anyhow::Error,
+    error: eyre::Report,
     status: crate::StatusCode,
 }
 
+static INSTALL_EYRE_HANDLER: Once = Once::new();
+
 impl Error {
     /// Create a new error object from any error type.
     ///
     /// The error type must be threadsafe and 'static, so that the Error will be
     /// as well. If the error type does not provide a backtrace, a backtrace will
     /// be created here to ensure that a backtrace exists.
-    pub fn new(status: StatusCode, error: impl Into<anyhow::Error>) -> Self {
+    pub fn new(status: StatusCode, error: impl Into<eyre::Error>) -> Self {
+        INSTALL_EYRE_HANDLER.call_once(|| {
+            stable_eyre::install().ok();
+        });
         Self {
             status,
             error: error.into(),
@@ -35,10 +43,7 @@ impl Error {
     where
         M: Display + Debug + Send + Sync + 'static,
     {
-        Self {
-            status,
-            error: anyhow::Error::msg(msg),
-        }
+        Self::new(status, eyre::Error::msg(msg))
     }
 
     /// Create a new error from a message.
@@ -70,9 +75,21 @@ impl Error {
     /// capturing them all over the place all the time.
     ///
     /// [tracking]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/53487
+    ///
+    /// Note: This function can be called whether or not backtraces
+    /// are enabled and available. It will return a `None` variant if
+    /// compiled on a toolchain that does not support backtraces, or
+    /// if executed without backtraces enabled with
+    /// `RUST_LIB_BACKTRACE=1`.
     #[cfg(backtrace)]
-    pub fn backtrace(&self) -> &std::backtrace::Backtrace {
-        self.error.downcast_ref::<E>()
+    pub fn backtrace(&self) -> Option<&backtrace::Backtrace> {
+        self.error.backtrace()
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(not(backtrace))]
+    #[allow(missing_docs)]
+    pub fn backtrace(&self) -> Option<()> {
+        None
     }
 
     /// Attempt to downcast the error object to a concrete type.
@@ -106,17 +123,17 @@ impl Error {
 
 impl Display for Error {
     fn fmt(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
-        write!(formatter, "{}", self.error)
+        Display::fmt(&self.error, formatter)
     }
 }
 
 impl Debug for Error {
     fn fmt(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
-        write!(formatter, "{}", self.error)
+        Debug::fmt(&self.error, formatter)
     }
 }
 
-impl<E: Into<anyhow::Error>> From<E> for Error {
+impl<E: Into<eyre::Error>> From<E> for Error {
     fn from(error: E) -> Self {
         Self::new(StatusCode::InternalServerError, error)
     }
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 213cf885..e5195032 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@
 #![deny(missing_debug_implementations, nonstandard_style)]
 #![warn(missing_docs, unreachable_pub)]
 #![allow(clippy::new_without_default)]
+#![cfg_attr(backtrace, feature(backtrace))]
 #![cfg_attr(test, deny(warnings))]
 #![cfg_attr(feature = "docs", feature(doc_cfg))]
 #![doc(html_favicon_url = "https://yoshuawuyts.com/assets/http-rs/favicon.ico")]
@@ -152,6 +153,8 @@ pub use status::Status;
 pub use status_code::StatusCode;
 pub use version::Version;
 
+pub use backtrace;
+
 #[doc(inline)]
 pub use trailers::Trailers;
 
diff --git a/tests/error.rs b/tests/error.rs
index 06a59776..c63b3682 100644
--- a/tests/error.rs
+++ b/tests/error.rs
@@ -72,15 +72,14 @@ fn option_ext() {
 }
 
 #[test]
-fn anyhow_error_into_http_types_error() {
-    let anyhow_error =
-        anyhow::Error::new(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, "irrelevant"));
-    let http_types_error: Error = anyhow_error.into();
+fn eyre_error_into_http_types_error() {
+    use stable_eyre::eyre;
+    let eyre_error = eyre::Error::new(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, "irrelevant"));
+    let http_types_error: Error = eyre_error.into();
     assert_eq!(http_types_error.status(), StatusCode::InternalServerError);
 
-    let anyhow_error =
-        anyhow::Error::new(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, "irrelevant"));
-    let http_types_error: Error = Error::new(StatusCode::ImATeapot, anyhow_error);
+    let eyre_error = eyre::Error::new(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, "irrelevant"));
+    let http_types_error: Error = Error::new(StatusCode::ImATeapot, eyre_error);
     assert_eq!(http_types_error.status(), StatusCode::ImATeapot);
 }