diff --git a/development/scons/SConstruct b/development/scons/SConstruct
index b22720ca53..07c8cbbe14 100644
--- a/development/scons/SConstruct
+++ b/development/scons/SConstruct
@@ -701,42 +701,43 @@ if not fast_start:
     # check boost libraries
     boost_opt = ARGUMENTS.get('boost', 'auto')
     # check for system boost
-    paths = env['LIBPATH'] + ['/usr/lib', '/usr/local/lib']
-    # real libraries (included or system)
-    boost_libraries = []
+    lib_paths = env['LIBPATH'] + ['/usr/lib', '/usr/local/lib']
+    inc_paths = env['CPPPATH'] + ['/usr/include', '/usr/local/include']
+    # default to $BUILDDIR/libs (use None since this path will be added anyway)
     boost_libpath = None
     # here I assume that all libraries are in the same directory
-    for lib in boost_libs:
-        if boost_opt == 'included':
-            boost_libraries.append('included_boost_%s' % lib)
-            env['INCLUDED_BOOST'] = True
-        elif boost_opt == 'auto':
-            res = conf.CheckBoostLibraries('boost_%s' % lib , paths)
-            # if not found
-            if res[0] == '':
-                boost_libraries.append('included_boost_%s' % lib)
-                env['INCLUDED_BOOST'] = True
-            else:
-                boost_libraries.append(res[1])
-                env['INCLUDED_BOOST'] = False
-                boost_libpath = res[0]
-        elif boost_opt == 'system':
-            res = conf.CheckBoostLibraries('boost_%s' % lib , paths)
-            if res[0] == '':
-                print "Can not find system boost libraries"
-                print "Please supply a path through extra_lib_path and try again."
-                print "Or use boost=included to use included boost libraries."
-                Exit(2)
-            else:
-                boost_libraries.append(res[1])
-                env.AppendUnique(LIBPATH = [res[0]])
-                boost_libpath = res[0]
+    if boost_opt == 'included':
+        boost_libraries = ['included_boost_%s' % x for x in boost_libs]
+        included_boost = True
+        env['BOOST_INC_PATH'] = '$TOP_SRCDIR/boost'
+    elif boost_opt == 'auto':
+        res = conf.CheckBoostLibraries(boost_libs, lib_paths, inc_paths, mode == 'debug')
+        # if not found, use local boost
+        if res[0] is None:
+            boost_libraries = ['included_boost_%s' % x for x in boost_libs]
+            included_boost = True
+            env['BOOST_INC_PATH'] = '$TOP_SRCDIR/boost'
+        else:
+            included_boost = False
+            (boost_libraries, boost_libpath, env['BOOST_INC_PATH']) = res
+    elif boost_opt == 'system':
+        res = conf.CheckBoostLibraries(boost_libs, lib_paths, inc_paths, mode == 'debug')
+        if res[0] is None:
+            print "Can not find system boost libraries"
+            print "Please supply a path through extra_lib_path and try again."
+            print "Or use boost=included to use included boost libraries."
+            Exit(2)
+        else:
+            included_boost = False
+            (boost_libraries, boost_libpath, env['BOOST_INC_PATH']) = res
     env_cache['BOOST_LIBRARIES'] = boost_libraries
-    env_cache['INCLUDED_BOOST'] = env['INCLUDED_BOOST']
+    env_cache['INCLUDED_BOOST'] = included_boost
+    env_cache['BOOST_INC_PATH'] = env['BOOST_INC_PATH']
     env_cache['BOOST_LIBPATH'] = boost_libpath
 else:
     boost_libraries = env_cache['BOOST_LIBRARIES']
-    env['INCLUDED_BOOST'] = env_cache['INCLUDED_BOOST']
+    included_boost = env_cache['INCLUDED_BOOST']
+    env['BOOST_INC_PATH'] = env_cache['BOOST_INC_PATH']
     boost_libpath = env_cache['BOOST_LIBPATH']
 
 if boost_libpath is not None:
@@ -1307,7 +1308,16 @@ if env['X11']:
 # BUILDDIR/common: for config.h
 # TOP_SRCDIR/src: for support/* etc
 #
-env['CPPPATH'] += ['$TOP_SRCDIR/boost', '$BUILDDIR/common', '$TOP_SRCDIR/src']
+env['CPPPATH'] += ['$BUILDDIR/common', '$TOP_SRCDIR/src']
+#
+# Separating boost directories from CPPPATH stops scons from building
+# the dependency tree of boost header files, and effectively reduce
+# the null build time of lyx from 29s to 16s.
+if use_vc:
+    env.AppendUnique(CCFLAGS = ['/I$BOOST_INC_PATH'])
+else:
+    env.AppendUnique(CCFLAGS = ['-I$BOOST_INC_PATH'])
+
 # for intl/config.h, intl/libintl.h and intl/libgnuintl.h
 if env['nls'] and included_gettext:
     env['CPPPATH'].append('$BUILDDIR/intl')
@@ -1429,7 +1439,7 @@ targets = BUILD_TARGETS
 # msvc need to pass full target name, so I have to look for path/lyx etc
 build_lyx = targets == [] or True in ['lyx' in x for x in targets] \
     or 'install' in targets or 'all' in targets
-build_boost = (env['INCLUDED_BOOST'] and not libExists('boost_regex')) or 'boost' in targets
+build_boost = (included_boost and not libExists('boost_regex')) or 'boost' in targets
 build_intl = (included_gettext and not libExists('included_intl')) or 'intl' in targets
 build_support = build_lyx or True in [x in targets for x in ['support', 'client', 'tex2lyx']]
 build_mathed = build_lyx or 'mathed' in targets
diff --git a/development/scons/scons_utils.py b/development/scons/scons_utils.py
index 136ac7a200..5030f07221 100644
--- a/development/scons/scons_utils.py
+++ b/development/scons/scons_utils.py
@@ -153,24 +153,69 @@ int main()
     return ('int', 'int *', 'struct timeval *')
 
 
-def checkBoostLibraries(conf, lib, pathes):
-    ''' look for boost libraries '''
-    conf.Message('Checking for boost library %s... ' % lib)
-    for path in pathes:
+def checkBoostLibraries(conf, libs, lib_paths, inc_paths, isDebug):
+    ''' look for boost libraries
+      libs: library names
+      lib_paths: try these paths for boost libraries
+      inc_paths: try these paths for boost headers
+      isDebug:   if true, use debug libraries
+    '''
+    conf.Message('Checking for boost library %s... ' % ', '.join(libs))
+    found_lib = False
+    found_inc = False
+    lib_names = []
+    lib_path = None
+    inc_path = None
+    for path in lib_paths:
         # direct form: e.g. libboost_iostreams.a
-        if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(path, 'lib%s.a' % lib)):
+        # ignore isDebug
+        if False not in [os.path.isfile(os.path.join(path, 'libboost_%s.a' % lib)) for lib in libs]:
             conf.Result('yes')
-            return (path, lib)
-        # check things like libboost_iostreams-gcc.a
-        files = glob.glob(os.path.join(path, 'lib%s-*.a' % lib))
-        # if there are more than one, choose the first one
-        # FIXME: choose the best one.
-        if len(files) >= 1:
-            # get xxx-gcc from /usr/local/lib/libboost_xxx-gcc.a
-            conf.Result('yes')
-            return (path, files[0].split(os.sep)[-1][3:-2])
-    conf.Result('n')
-    return ('','')
+            found_lib = True
+            lib_path = path
+            lib_names = libs
+            break
+        for lib in libs:
+            # get all the libs, then filter for the right library
+            files = glob.glob(os.path.join(path, 'libboost_%s-*.a' % lib))
+            # check things like libboost_iostreams-gcc-mt-d-1_33_1.a
+            if len(files) > 0:
+                if isDebug:
+                    files = filter(lambda x: re.search('libboost_%s-\w+-mt-d-[\d-]+' % lib, x), files)
+                else:
+                    files = filter(lambda x: re.search('libboost_%s-\w+-mt-[\d-]+' % lib, x), files)
+                if len(files) == 0:
+                    print 'Warning: %s directory seems to have the boost libraries, but ' % path
+                    print 'I can not find one that has the form lib%s-xxx-mt[-d]-x_xx_x.a' % lib
+                    print 'Check your boost installation, or change select criteria in scons_util.py'
+            if len(files) > 0:
+                # get xxx-gcc-1_33_1 from /usr/local/lib/libboost_xxx-gcc-1_33_1.a
+                lib_names.append(files[0].split(os.sep)[-1][3:-2])
+        if len(lib_names) == len(libs):
+            found_lib = True
+            lib_path = path
+            break
+    if not found_lib:
+        conf.Result('no')
+        return (None, None, None)
+    # check for boost header file
+    for path in inc_paths:
+        # check path/boost/regex.h
+        if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(path, 'boost', 'regex.h')):
+            inc_path = path
+            found_inc = True
+        else: # check path/boost_1_xx_x/boost
+            dirs = glob.glob(os.path.join(path, 'boost-*'))
+            if len(dirs) > 0 and os.path.isfile(os.path.join(dirs[0], 'boost', 'regex.h')):
+                inc_path = dirs[0]
+                found_inc = True
+    # return result
+    if found_inc:
+        conf.Result('yes')
+        return (lib_names, lib_path, inc_path)
+    else:
+        conf.Result('no')
+        return (None, None, None)
 
 
 def checkCommand(conf, cmd):
@@ -314,7 +359,7 @@ def createConfigFile(conf, config_file,
                     result[lib[2]] = ll
                 cont += configString('#define %s 1' % lib[1], desc = description)
                 break
-        # if not found        
+        # if not found
         if not result[lib[1]]:
             cont += configString('/* #undef %s */' % lib[1], desc = description)
     # custom tests