diff --git a/build_config.h b/build_config.h
index 143cf3e5b..ed551f71f 100644
--- a/build_config.h
+++ b/build_config.h
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@
 //  Processor:
 //    ARCH_CPU_X86 / ARCH_CPU_X86_64 / ARCH_CPU_X86_FAMILY (X86 or X86_64)
 //    ARCH_CPU_32_BITS / ARCH_CPU_64_BITS
+//
+// If an #ifdef is not strictly necessary, please consider using
+// build/build_config_functions.h instead.
 
 #ifndef BUILD_BUILD_CONFIG_H_
 #define BUILD_BUILD_CONFIG_H_
diff --git a/build_config_functions.h b/build_config_functions.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd1b385fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build_config_functions.h
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2013 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// These helpers allow to avoid the use of an #ifdef when the code can
+// compile without them. Thanks to compiler optimizations, the final generated
+// binary should look the same when using these.
+
+#ifndef BUILD_BUILD_CONFIG_FUNCTIONS_H_
+#define BUILD_BUILD_CONFIG_FUNCTIONS_H_
+
+#include "build/build_config.h"
+
+namespace build {
+
+namespace {
+
+inline bool IsASANBuild() {
+#if defined(ADDRESS_SANITIZER)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+inline bool IsLinux() {
+#if defined(OS_LINUX)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+inline bool IsChromeOS() {
+#if defined(OS_CHROMEOS)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+inline bool IsAndroid() {
+#if defined(OS_ANDROID)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+inline bool IsPOSIX() {
+#if defined(OS_POSIX)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+inline bool IsWindows() {
+#if defined(OS_WIN)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+inline bool IsMac() {
+#if defined(OS_MACOSX)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+inline bool IsArchitectureX86_64() {
+#if defined(ARCH_CPU_X86_64)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+inline bool IsArchitectureI386() {
+#if defined(ARCH_CPU_X86)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+inline bool IsArchitectureARM() {
+#if defined(ARCH_CPU_ARM_FAMILY)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+inline bool IsUsingToolKitGtk() {
+#if defined(TOOLKIT_GTK)
+  return true;
+#else
+  return false;
+#endif
+}
+
+}  // namespace.
+
+}  // namespace build.
+
+#endif  // BUILD_BUILD_CONFIG_FUNCTIONS_H_