diff --git a/src/shared/proparser/qmakebuiltins.cpp b/src/shared/proparser/qmakebuiltins.cpp
index 55ada16196d..dcacb70e528 100644
--- a/src/shared/proparser/qmakebuiltins.cpp
+++ b/src/shared/proparser/qmakebuiltins.cpp
@@ -216,8 +216,11 @@ ProStringList QMakeEvaluator::evaluateExpandFunction(
     if (func_t == 0) {
         const QString &fn = func.toQString(m_tmp1);
         const QString &lfn = fn.toLower();
-        if (!fn.isSharedWith(lfn))
+        if (!fn.isSharedWith(lfn)) {
             func_t = ExpandFunc(statics.expands.value(ProString(lfn)));
+            if (func_t)
+                deprecationWarning(fL1S("Using uppercased builtin functions is deprecated."));
+        }
     }
 
     ProStringList ret;
@@ -974,23 +977,25 @@ QMakeEvaluator::VisitReturn QMakeEvaluator::evaluateConditionalFunction(
     case T_INCLUDE: {
         if (m_skipLevel && !m_cumulative)
             return ReturnFalse;
-        QString parseInto;
-        // the third optional argument to include() controls warnings
-        //      and is not used here
-        if ((args.count() == 2) || (args.count() == 3) ) {
-            parseInto = args.at(1).toQString(m_tmp2);
-        } else if (args.count() != 1) {
-            evalError(fL1S("include(file, into, silent) requires one, two or three arguments."));
+        if (args.count() < 1 || args.count() > 3) {
+            evalError(fL1S("include(file, [into, [silent]]) requires one, two or three arguments."));
             return ReturnFalse;
         }
+        QString parseInto;
+        LoadFlags flags = 0;
+        if (args.count() >= 2) {
+            parseInto = args.at(1).toQString(m_tmp2);
+            if (args.count() >= 3 && isTrue(args.at(2), m_tmp3))
+                flags = LoadSilent;
+        }
         QString fn = resolvePath(m_option->expandEnvVars(args.at(0).toQString(m_tmp1)));
         fn.detach();
         bool ok;
         if (parseInto.isEmpty()) {
-            ok = evaluateFile(fn, QMakeHandler::EvalIncludeFile, LoadProOnly);
+            ok = evaluateFile(fn, QMakeHandler::EvalIncludeFile, LoadProOnly | flags);
         } else {
             ProValueMap symbols;
-            if ((ok = evaluateFileInto(fn, QMakeHandler::EvalAuxFile, &symbols, LoadAll))) {
+            if ((ok = evaluateFileInto(fn, QMakeHandler::EvalAuxFile, &symbols, LoadAll | flags))) {
                 ProValueMap newMap;
                 for (ProValueMap::ConstIterator
                         it = m_valuemapStack.top().constBegin(),
@@ -1011,20 +1016,20 @@ QMakeEvaluator::VisitReturn QMakeEvaluator::evaluateConditionalFunction(
                 m_valuemapStack.top() = newMap;
             }
         }
-        return returnBool(ok);
+        return returnBool(ok || (flags & LoadSilent));
     }
     case T_LOAD: {
         if (m_skipLevel && !m_cumulative)
             return ReturnFalse;
-        // bool ignore_error = false;
+        bool ignore_error = false;
         if (args.count() == 2) {
-            // ignore_error = isTrue(args.at(1), m_tmp2);
+            ignore_error = isTrue(args.at(1), m_tmp2);
         } else if (args.count() != 1) {
             evalError(fL1S("load(feature) requires one or two arguments."));
             return ReturnFalse;
         }
-        // XXX ignore_error unused
-        return returnBool(evaluateFeatureFile(m_option->expandEnvVars(args.at(0).toQString())));
+        return returnBool(evaluateFeatureFile(m_option->expandEnvVars(args.at(0).toQString()),
+                                              ignore_error) || ignore_error);
     }
     case T_DEBUG:
         // Yup - do nothing. Nothing is going to enable debug output anyway.
diff --git a/src/shared/proparser/qmakeevaluator.cpp b/src/shared/proparser/qmakeevaluator.cpp
index ddfe382c372..f7024eac9a9 100644
--- a/src/shared/proparser/qmakeevaluator.cpp
+++ b/src/shared/proparser/qmakeevaluator.cpp
@@ -138,7 +138,11 @@ void QMakeEvaluator::initStatics()
 const ProString &QMakeEvaluator::map(const ProString &var)
 {
     QHash<ProString, ProString>::ConstIterator it = statics.varMap.constFind(var);
-    return (it != statics.varMap.constEnd()) ? it.value() : var;
+    if (it == statics.varMap.constEnd())
+        return var;
+    deprecationWarning(fL1S("Variable %s is deprecated; use %s instead.")
+                       .arg(var.toQString(), it.value().toQString()));
+    return it.value();
 }
 
 
@@ -239,7 +243,8 @@ ProStringList QMakeEvaluator::split_value_list(const QString &vals, const ProFil
     ushort unicode;
     const QChar *vals_data = vals.data();
     const int vals_len = vals.length();
-    for (int x = 0, parens = 0; x < vals_len; x++) {
+    int parens = 0;
+    for (int x = 0; x < vals_len; x++) {
         unicode = vals_data[x].unicode();
         if (x != (int)vals_len-1 && unicode == BACKSLASH &&
             (vals_data[x+1].unicode() == SINGLEQUOTE || vals_data[x+1].unicode() == DOUBLEQUOTE)) {
@@ -263,6 +268,8 @@ ProStringList QMakeEvaluator::split_value_list(const QString &vals, const ProFil
     }
     if (!build.isEmpty())
         ret << ProString(build, NoHash).setSource(source);
+    if (parens)
+        deprecationWarning(fL1S("Unmatched parentheses are deprecated."));
     return ret;
 }
 
@@ -780,6 +787,8 @@ void QMakeEvaluator::visitProVariable(
             if (!m_cumulative) {
                 if (!m_skipLevel) {
                     zipEmpty(&varVal);
+                    // FIXME: add check+warning about accidental value removal.
+                    // This may be a bit too noisy, though.
                     m_valuemapStack.top()[varName] = varVal;
                 }
             } else {
@@ -1210,7 +1219,7 @@ QMakeEvaluator::VisitReturn QMakeEvaluator::visitProFile(
                 if (!processed.contains(config)) {
                     config.detach();
                     processed.insert(config);
-                    if (evaluateFeatureFile(config)) {
+                    if (evaluateFeatureFile(config, true)) {
                         finished = false;
                         break;
                     }
@@ -1892,6 +1901,8 @@ bool QMakeEvaluator::evaluateFileDirect(
 #endif
         return ok;
     } else {
+        if (!(flags & LoadSilent) && IoUtils::exists(fileName))
+            languageWarning(fL1S("Include file %1 not found").arg(fileName));
         return false;
     }
 }
@@ -1909,7 +1920,7 @@ bool QMakeEvaluator::evaluateFile(
     return evaluateFileDirect(fileName, type, flags);
 }
 
-bool QMakeEvaluator::evaluateFeatureFile(const QString &fileName)
+bool QMakeEvaluator::evaluateFeatureFile(const QString &fileName, bool silent)
 {
     QString fn = fileName;
     if (!fn.endsWith(QLatin1String(".prf")))
@@ -1938,13 +1949,18 @@ bool QMakeEvaluator::evaluateFeatureFile(const QString &fileName)
     if (QFileInfo(fn).exists())
         goto cool;
 #endif
+    if (!silent)
+        languageWarning(fL1S("Cannot find feature %1").arg(fileName));
     return false;
 
   cool:
     ProStringList &already = valuesRef(ProString("QMAKE_INTERNAL_INCLUDED_FEATURES"));
     ProString afn(fn, NoHash);
-    if (already.contains(afn))
+    if (already.contains(afn)) {
+        if (!silent)
+            languageWarning(fL1S("Feature %1 already included").arg(fileName));
         return true;
+    }
     already.append(afn);
 
 #ifdef PROEVALUATOR_CUMULATIVE
diff --git a/src/shared/proparser/qmakeevaluator.h b/src/shared/proparser/qmakeevaluator.h
index 43e8523ab97..69b85b38a3d 100644
--- a/src/shared/proparser/qmakeevaluator.h
+++ b/src/shared/proparser/qmakeevaluator.h
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ public:
     enum {
         SourceEvaluator = 0x10,
 
+        EvalWarnLanguage = SourceEvaluator |  WarningMessage | WarnLanguage,
+        EvalWarnDeprecated = SourceEvaluator | WarningMessage | WarnDeprecated,
+
         EvalError = ErrorMessage | SourceEvaluator
     };
 
@@ -71,7 +74,8 @@ public:
         LoadProOnly = 0,
         LoadPreFiles = 1,
         LoadPostFiles = 2,
-        LoadAll = LoadPreFiles|LoadPostFiles
+        LoadAll = LoadPreFiles|LoadPostFiles,
+        LoadSilent = 0x10
     };
     Q_DECLARE_FLAGS(LoadFlags, LoadFlag)
 
@@ -120,7 +124,7 @@ public:
     void visitProFunctionDef(ushort tok, const ProString &name, const ushort *tokPtr);
     void visitProVariable(ushort tok, const ProStringList &curr, const ushort *&tokPtr);
 
-    static const ProString &map(const ProString &var);
+    const ProString &map(const ProString &var);
     ProValueMap *findValues(const ProString &variableName, ProValueMap::Iterator *it);
 
     void setTemplate();
@@ -139,13 +143,17 @@ public:
                             LoadFlags flags);
     bool evaluateFile(const QString &fileName, QMakeHandler::EvalFileType type,
                       LoadFlags flags);
-    bool evaluateFeatureFile(const QString &fileName);
+    bool evaluateFeatureFile(const QString &fileName, bool silent = false);
     bool evaluateFileInto(const QString &fileName, QMakeHandler::EvalFileType type,
                           ProValueMap *values, // output-only
                           LoadFlags flags);
     void message(int type, const QString &msg) const;
     void evalError(const QString &msg) const
             { message(QMakeHandler::EvalError, msg); }
+    void languageWarning(const QString &msg) const
+            { message(QMakeHandler::EvalWarnLanguage, msg); }
+    void deprecationWarning(const QString &msg) const
+            { message(QMakeHandler::EvalWarnDeprecated, msg); }
 
     QList<ProStringList> prepareFunctionArgs(const ushort *&tokPtr);
     QList<ProStringList> prepareFunctionArgs(const ProString &arguments);
diff --git a/src/shared/proparser/qmakeparser.cpp b/src/shared/proparser/qmakeparser.cpp
index 6858d9e9f13..800969a53ee 100644
--- a/src/shared/proparser/qmakeparser.cpp
+++ b/src/shared/proparser/qmakeparser.cpp
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ bool QMakeParser::read(ProFile *pro, const QString &in)
     int parens = 0; // Braces in value context
     int argc = 0;
     int wordCount = 0; // Number of words in currently accumulated expression
+    int lastIndent = 0; // Previous line's indentation, to detect accidental continuation abuse
     bool putSpace = false; // Only ever true inside quoted string
     bool lineMarked = true; // For in-expression markers
     ushort needSep = TokNewStr; // Complementary to putSpace: separator outside quotes
@@ -372,7 +373,8 @@ bool QMakeParser::read(ProFile *pro, const QString &in)
         ushort c;
 
         // First, skip leading whitespace
-        for (;; ++cur) {
+        int indent;
+        for (indent = 0; ; ++cur, ++indent) {
             c = *cur;
             if (c == '\n') {
                 ++cur;
@@ -556,12 +558,14 @@ bool QMakeParser::read(ProFile *pro, const QString &in)
                         needSep = 0;
                         goto nextChr;
                     }
-                } else if (c == '\\' && cur != end) {
+                } else if (c == '\\') {
                     static const char symbols[] = "[]{}()$\\'\"";
-                    ushort c2 = *cur;
-                    if (!(c2 & 0xff00) && strchr(symbols, c2)) {
+                    ushort c2;
+                    if (cur != end && !((c2 = *cur) & 0xff00) && strchr(symbols, c2)) {
                         c = c2;
                         cur++;
+                    } else {
+                        deprecationWarning(fL1S("Unescaped backslashes are deprecated"));
                     }
                 } else if (quote) {
                     if (c == quote) {
@@ -722,6 +726,9 @@ bool QMakeParser::read(ProFile *pro, const QString &in)
                             goto closeScope;
                         }
                         --parens;
+                    } else if (c == '=') {
+                        if (indent < lastIndent)
+                            languageWarning(fL1S("Possible accidental line continuation"));
                     }
                 }
                 if (putSpace) {
@@ -771,6 +778,8 @@ bool QMakeParser::read(ProFile *pro, const QString &in)
                     }
                 } else if (context == CtxValue) {
                     FLUSH_VALUE_LIST();
+                    if (parens)
+                        languageWarning(fL1S("Possible braces mismatch"));
                 } else {
                     finalizeCond(tokPtr, buf, ptr, wordCount);
                 }
@@ -780,6 +789,7 @@ bool QMakeParser::read(ProFile *pro, const QString &in)
                 goto freshLine;
             }
 
+        lastIndent = indent;
         lineMarked = false;
       ignore:
         cur = cptr;
diff --git a/src/shared/proparser/qmakeparser.h b/src/shared/proparser/qmakeparser.h
index 43d62d15e35..9c1a3866546 100644
--- a/src/shared/proparser/qmakeparser.h
+++ b/src/shared/proparser/qmakeparser.h
@@ -46,11 +46,19 @@ class QMAKE_EXPORT QMakeParserHandler
 public:
     enum {
         CategoryMask = 0xf00,
+        WarningMessage = 0x000,
         ErrorMessage = 0x100,
 
         SourceMask = 0xf0,
         SourceParser = 0,
 
+        CodeMask = 0xf,
+        WarnLanguage = 0,
+        WarnDeprecated,
+
+        ParserWarnLanguage = SourceParser | WarningMessage | WarnLanguage,
+        ParserWarnDeprecated = SourceParser | WarningMessage | WarnDeprecated,
+
         ParserIoError = ErrorMessage | SourceParser,
         ParserError
     };
@@ -123,6 +131,10 @@ private:
     void message(int type, const QString &msg) const;
     void parseError(const QString &msg) const
             { message(QMakeParserHandler::ParserError, msg); }
+    void languageWarning(const QString &msg) const
+            { message(QMakeParserHandler::ParserWarnLanguage, msg); }
+    void deprecationWarning(const QString &msg) const
+            { message(QMakeParserHandler::ParserWarnDeprecated, msg); }
 
     // Current location
     ProFile *m_proFile;
diff --git a/tests/manual/proparser/main.cpp b/tests/manual/proparser/main.cpp
index dd89628a48f..e7c4bafbf0b 100644
--- a/tests/manual/proparser/main.cpp
+++ b/tests/manual/proparser/main.cpp
@@ -43,18 +43,20 @@
 #include <QStringList>
 #include <QTextCodec>
 
-static void print(const QString &fileName, int lineNo, const QString &msg)
+static void print(const QString &fileName, int lineNo, int type, const QString &msg)
 {
+    QString pfx = ((type & QMakeHandler::CategoryMask) == QMakeHandler::WarningMessage)
+                  ? QString::fromLatin1("WARNING: ") : QString();
     if (lineNo)
-        qWarning("%s(%d): %s", qPrintable(fileName), lineNo, qPrintable(msg));
+        qWarning("%s%s:%d: %s", qPrintable(pfx), qPrintable(fileName), lineNo, qPrintable(msg));
     else
-        qWarning("%s", qPrintable(msg));
+        qWarning("%s%s", qPrintable(pfx), qPrintable(msg));
 }
 
 class EvalHandler : public QMakeHandler {
 public:
-    virtual void message(int /* type */, const QString &msg, const QString &fileName, int lineNo)
-        { print(fileName, lineNo, msg); }
+    virtual void message(int type, const QString &msg, const QString &fileName, int lineNo)
+        { print(fileName, lineNo, type, msg); }
 
     virtual void fileMessage(const QString &msg)
         { qWarning("%s", qPrintable(msg)); }