diff --git a/.htaccess b/.htaccess
index 1e08407..ea4091e 100644
--- a/.htaccess
+++ b/.htaccess
@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ 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 9d98678..7e78a88 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
  *   An array of system requirements.
  */
 function system_requirements($phase) {
-  global $base_url;
+  global $base_url, $install_state;
   $requirements = array();
   // Ensure translations don't break during installation.
   $t = get_t();
@@ -55,6 +55,13 @@ function system_requirements($phase) {
     'value' => $software,
   );
 
+  // Test Clean URL support
+  if ($phase == 'install' && $install_state['interactive'] && !isset($_GET['rewrite'])) {
+    $requirements['rewrite_module']['title'] = $t('Clean URLs');
+    $requirements['rewrite_module']['value'] = $t('Your system configuration does not currently support this feature. The <a href="@link">handbook page on Clean URLs</a> has additional troubleshooting information.', array('@link' => 'http://drupal.org/node/15365'));
+    $requirements['rewrite_module']['severity'] = REQUIREMENT_ERROR;
+  }
+
   // Test PHP version and show link to phpinfo() if it's available
   $phpversion = phpversion();
   if (function_exists('phpinfo')) {