diff --git a/.htaccess b/.htaccess
index 4648105..df8c780 100644
--- a/.htaccess
+++ b/.htaccess
@@ -111,6 +111,10 @@ DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.htm
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !core
   RewriteRule ^ %1/core/%2 [L,QSA,R=301]
 
+  # Rewrite the install.php to check during installation if
+  # the mod_rewrite is working
+  RewriteRule ^core/install.php core/install.php?rewrite=ok [QSA,L]
+
   # Pass all requests not referring directly to files in the filesystem to
   # index.php. Clean URLs are handled in drupal_environment_initialize().
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
diff --git a/core/modules/system/system.install b/core/modules/system/system.install
index 8c7d72a..27d9b50 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
  */
 function system_requirements($phase) {
   global $base_url;
+  global $install_state;
   $requirements = array();
   // Ensure translations don't break during installation.
   $t = get_t();
@@ -55,6 +56,14 @@ function system_requirements($phase) {
     'value' => $software,
   );
 
+  // Test Clean URL support
+  if ($phase == 'install' && $install_state['interactive'] == TRUE && !isset($_GET['rewrite'])) {
+    $requirements['rewrite_module']['title'] = $t('Clean URLs');
+    $requirements['rewrite_module']['value'] = $t('Your system configuration does not currently support this feature. The !link has additional troubleshooting information.', array('!link' => l($t('handbook page on Clean URLs'), 'http://drupal.org/node/15365')));
+    $requirements['rewrite_module']['description'] = $t('Placeholder for testing');
+    $requirements['rewrite_module']['severity'] = REQUIREMENT_ERROR;
+  }
+  
   // Test PHP version and show link to phpinfo() if it's available
   $phpversion = phpversion();
   if (function_exists('phpinfo')) {