diff --git a/staging/patchinstall.py b/staging/patchinstall.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..ed7ea236
--- /dev/null
+++ b/staging/patchinstall.py
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python2
+
+import getopt, os, subprocess, sys
+
+patchdir = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)) + '/../patches/'
+if 'DESTDIR' in os.environ:
+    winedir = os.environ['DESTDIR']
+else:
+    winedir = '.'
+backend = "patch"
+
+applied = []
+
+def usage():
+    print '''
+Usage: ./staging/patchinstall.py [DESTDIR=path] [options] [patchset ...]
+
+Applies every patch to a Wine tree.
+
+Options:
+    -h, --help          print this message
+    --all               apply all patches (except those excluded with -W)
+    -W <patchset>       exclude a patch
+    --no-autoconf       do not run autoconf and tools/make_requests
+    --backend=<backend> use the given backend to apply patches:
+              patch     use the `gitapply.sh` tool (a wrapper around `patch`)
+              git-am    use `git am`
+              git-am-C1 use `git am -C1`
+              git-apply use `git apply`
+    -r, --rebase-mode   alias for --backend=git-am-C1 --no-autoconf
+'''
+
+# return a patch to be shoved in patchlist below
+def parse_def_file(name, path):
+    deps = []
+    if os.path.exists(path):
+        with open(path) as z:
+            for l in z.readlines():
+                if l.lower().startswith('depends: '):
+                    deps.append(l.split(' ')[1].strip())
+                elif l.lower().strip() == 'disabled: true':
+                    return None
+    return deps
+
+def apply_patch(patch):
+    if backend == 'git-am':
+        return subprocess.call(['git','-C',winedir,'am',patch])
+    elif backend == 'git-am-C1':
+        return subprocess.call(['git','-C',winedir,'am','-C1',patch])
+    elif backend == 'patch':
+        with open(patch) as f:
+            return subprocess.call([patchdir+'/gitapply.sh'],stdin=f)
+    elif backend == 'git-apply':
+        return subprocess.call(['git','-C',winedir,'apply','--index',patch])
+
+def apply_set(patchlist, name):
+    if name in applied:
+        return True
+    for dep in patchlist[name]:
+        if not apply_set(patchlist, dep):
+            return False
+    print 'Applying',name
+    for patch in sorted(os.listdir(patchdir+'/'+name)):
+        if patch.endswith('.patch') and patch.startswith('0') and apply_patch(patchdir+'/'+name+'/'+patch):
+            print 'Failed to apply patch %s/%s' %(name, patch)
+            return False
+    applied.append(name)
+    return True
+
+def add_patchset(patchlist, name):
+    path = patchdir + '/' + name
+    if os.path.isdir(path):
+        deps = parse_def_file(name, path + '/definition')
+        if deps == None:
+            print 'Error: attempt to apply %s, but it is disabled.' %name
+            sys.exit(1)
+        patchlist[name] = deps
+        for dep in deps: add_patchset(patchlist, dep)
+
+def main():
+    global backend
+    patchlist = {}
+    excluded = []
+    no_autoconf = False
+    force_autoconf = False
+
+    try:
+        opts, args = getopt.getopt(sys.argv[1:], 'hrW:', ['all', 'backend', 'help', 'no-autoconf'])
+    except getopt.GetoptError as err:
+        print str(err)
+        sys.exit(2)
+
+    for o, a in opts:
+        if o == '-h' or o == '--help':
+            usage()
+            sys.exit(0)
+        elif o == '-r' or o == '--rebase-mode':
+            no_autoconf = True
+            backend = "git-am-C1"
+        elif o == '-W':
+            excluded.append(a)
+        elif o == '--all':
+            for name in os.listdir(patchdir):
+                path = patchdir + '/' + name
+                if os.path.isdir(path):
+                    deps = parse_def_file(name, path + '/definition')
+                    if deps != None: # it's not disabled
+                        patchlist[name] = deps
+        elif o == '--backend':
+            backend = a
+        elif o == '--no-autoconf':
+            no_autoconf = True
+
+    for a in args: add_patchset(patchlist, a)
+
+    for p in excluded: del patchlist[p]
+
+    if not patchlist:
+        print 'Error: no patches specified'
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    # Check that all of our dependencies exist
+    for p in patchlist:
+        deps = patchlist[p]
+        for d in deps:
+            if d not in patchlist:
+                print 'Error: unknown or disabled dependency %s of %s.' %(d,p)
+                sys.exit(1)
+
+    # Now try to apply each patch
+    for p in sorted(patchlist.keys()):
+        # Try to apply it
+        if not apply_set(patchlist, p):
+            sys.exit(1)
+
+    # we successfully applied everything, autogen some files so we can build
+    if not no_autoconf:
+        print 'Calling autoreconf -f...'
+        subprocess.call(['autoreconf','-f'],cwd=winedir)
+        print 'Calling tools/make_requests...'
+        subprocess.call(['./tools/make_requests'],cwd=winedir)
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()