diff --git a/fusil/python/__init__.py b/fusil/python/__init__.py
index 900aae3..a943ece 100644
--- a/fusil/python/__init__.py
+++ b/fusil/python/__init__.py
@@ -292,6 +292,17 @@ def createFuzzerOptions(self, parser: OptionParser) -> None:
             action="store_true",
             default=False,
         )
+        fuzzing_options.add_option(
+            "--no-faulthandler",
+            help="Don't enable faulthandler in the generated script. By default it is "
+            "enabled, so a target that dies on a fatal signal (SIGSEGV/SIGABRT/...) dumps a "
+            "Python-level backtrace into the session's stdout instead of just stopping. Use "
+            "this only if faulthandler's own signal handlers or internals interfere with the "
+            "run (e.g. when fuzzing signal handling itself, or if it perturbs --tsan race "
+            "signatures).",
+            action="store_true",
+            default=False,
+        )
         fuzzing_options.add_option(
             "--filenames",
             help="Comma-separated readable files to feed as fuzz arguments. WARNING: a "
diff --git a/fusil/python/write_python_code.py b/fusil/python/write_python_code.py
index c2a2cca..f4c2230 100644
--- a/fusil/python/write_python_code.py
+++ b/fusil/python/write_python_code.py
@@ -383,12 +383,33 @@ def _get_object_methods(
 
     def _write_script_header_and_imports(self) -> None:
         """Writes standard imports and initial setup code to the generated script."""
+        # Indented to match the dedent() block below: the placeholder sits at 16 spaces, so
+        # the first line inherits that and the continuations must supply their own.
+        faulthandler_setup = (
+            ""
+            if self.options.no_faulthandler
+            else (
+                "try:\n"
+                "                    import faulthandler as _fusil_faulthandler\n"
+                "                    _fusil_faulthandler.enable()\n"
+                "                except Exception:\n"
+                "                    pass"
+            )
+        )
         self.write(
             0,
             dedent(
                 f"""\
                 # FUSIL_BOILERPLATE_START
 
+                # Record a Python-level backtrace if the target dies on a fatal signal.
+                # Without this a SIGSEGV/SIGABRT leaves stdout ending at the last call line
+                # with no indication of WHERE it died. That is worst for exactly the crashes
+                # that need it most -- rare, threaded, load-dependent ones that do not
+                # reproduce afterwards -- so capturing at crash time is the only chance.
+                # Enabled first, before any other import, so a crash in the prelude is caught
+                # too. Guarded: not every target interpreter ships a working faulthandler.
+                {faulthandler_setup}
                 from gc import collect
                 # NOTE: do NOT import `random` (the function) here -- it would shadow the
                 # `random` module that embedded tricky-object code imports and uses as
@@ -475,8 +496,6 @@ def skip_trivial_type(obj_instance_or_class):
             self.write_block(
                 0,
                 """
-                import faulthandler
-                faulthandler.enable()
                 import ctypes
                 try:
                     _set_nomemory = ctypes.CDLL(None).fusil_malloc_arm
@@ -495,8 +514,6 @@ def skip_trivial_type(obj_instance_or_class):
             self.write_block(
                 0,
                 """
-                import faulthandler
-                faulthandler.enable()
                 try:
                     from _testcapi import set_nomemory as _set_nomemory
                     _OOM_AVAILABLE = True
diff --git a/tests/python/golden/fakemod_seed1234.py b/tests/python/golden/fakemod_seed1234.py
index ca8e443..915d61c 100644
--- a/tests/python/golden/fakemod_seed1234.py
+++ b/tests/python/golden/fakemod_seed1234.py
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 # FUSIL_BOILERPLATE_START
 
+# Record a Python-level backtrace if the target dies on a fatal signal.
+# Without this a SIGSEGV/SIGABRT leaves stdout ending at the last call line
+# with no indication of WHERE it died. That is worst for exactly the crashes
+# that need it most -- rare, threaded, load-dependent ones that do not
+# reproduce afterwards -- so capturing at crash time is the only chance.
+# Enabled first, before any other import, so a crash in the prelude is caught
+# too. Guarded: not every target interpreter ships a working faulthandler.
+try:
+    import faulthandler as _fusil_faulthandler
+    _fusil_faulthandler.enable()
+except Exception:
+    pass
 from gc import collect
 # NOTE: do NOT import `random` (the function) here -- it would shadow the
 # `random` module that embedded tricky-object code imports and uses as
diff --git a/tests/python/test_golden_output.py b/tests/python/test_golden_output.py
index b7267eb..9d61d15 100644
--- a/tests/python/test_golden_output.py
+++ b/tests/python/test_golden_output.py
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ class _Options:
     test_private = False
     no_numpy = True
     no_tstrings = True
+    no_faulthandler = False  # the real default: the golden covers the emitted block
     external_references = True
     oom_fuzz = False
     oom_max_start = 50
diff --git a/tests/python/test_oom_fuzz.py b/tests/python/test_oom_fuzz.py
index e7f9c60..29f3a8b 100644
--- a/tests/python/test_oom_fuzz.py
+++ b/tests/python/test_oom_fuzz.py
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ def _make_options(oom_fuzz, oom_verbose=False):
     o.sys_monitoring = False  # opt-in mode; a bare MagicMock attr would divert generation
     o.test_private = False
     o.no_numpy = True
+    # A bare MagicMock auto-vivifies a TRUTHY attribute, which would read as
+    # --no-faulthandler and suppress the prelude's crash-backtrace block.
+    o.no_faulthandler = False
     o.no_tstrings = True
     o.functions_number = 5
     o.classes_number = 0
@@ -130,7 +133,7 @@ def test_oom_mode_emits_harness_and_sweeps(self):
         ast.parse(src)
 
         # Guarded _testcapi boilerplate + faulthandler.
-        self.assertIn("faulthandler.enable()", src)
+        self.assertIn("_fusil_faulthandler.enable()", src)  # now from the prelude, all modes
         self.assertIn("from _testcapi import set_nomemory", src)
         self.assertIn("_OOM_AVAILABLE", src)
 
diff --git a/tests/python/test_target_introspect.py b/tests/python/test_target_introspect.py
index f449865..e0368eb 100644
--- a/tests/python/test_target_introspect.py
+++ b/tests/python/test_target_introspect.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ class _Options:
     fuzz_exceptions = False
     test_private = False
     no_numpy = True
+    no_faulthandler = False
     no_tstrings = True
     external_references = True
     no_threads = True
diff --git a/tests/python/test_write_python_code.py b/tests/python/test_write_python_code.py
index 2e93731..2bc7d41 100644
--- a/tests/python/test_write_python_code.py
+++ b/tests/python/test_write_python_code.py
@@ -562,3 +562,64 @@ def test_dispatch_fuzz_on_instance_stops_at_max_depth(self):
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()
+
+
+class TestFaulthandlerPrelude(unittest.TestCase):
+    """A fatal signal must leave a backtrace in the session's stdout.
+
+    Without faulthandler a SIGSEGV/SIGABRT just stops the output at the last call line with
+    no indication of where the target died. That is worst for the crashes that need it most:
+    rare, threaded, load-dependent ones that do not reproduce on a later replay, where the
+    crash-time dump is the only evidence there will ever be. Verified on PyPy 3.11: the dump
+    names the exact source.py line of the crashing call, from inside a worker thread.
+    """
+
+    def _header(self, **overrides):
+        source_agent = MagicMock()
+        source_agent.options = make_test_options(
+            no_numpy=True, no_tstrings=True, functions_number=1, **overrides
+        )
+        module = ModuleType("fhmod")
+        # The constructor refuses a module with nothing to fuzz.
+        module.fh_func = lambda *a: a
+        writer = WritePythonCode(
+            parent_python_source=source_agent,
+            filename="out.py",
+            module=module,
+            module_name="fhmod",
+            threads=False,
+            _async=False,
+        )
+        writer.output = StringIO()
+        writer._write_script_header_and_imports()
+        return writer.output.getvalue()
+
+    def test_enabled_by_default(self):
+        header = self._header()
+        self.assertIn("import faulthandler as _fusil_faulthandler", header)
+        self.assertIn("_fusil_faulthandler.enable()", header)
+
+    def test_enabled_before_any_other_import(self):
+        # A crash while the prelude itself is still running must be caught too.
+        header = self._header()
+        self.assertLess(
+            header.index("_fusil_faulthandler.enable()"),
+            header.index("from gc import collect"),
+        )
+
+    def test_guarded_so_a_target_without_faulthandler_still_runs(self):
+        header = self._header()
+        enable_at = header.index("_fusil_faulthandler.enable()")
+        self.assertIn("try:", header[:enable_at])
+        self.assertIn("except Exception:", header[enable_at:])
+
+    def test_emitted_header_is_valid_python(self):
+        # The block is spliced into a dedent()ed f-string, so a wrong indent would break
+        # every generated script -- assert the prelude still parses, both ways.
+        for overrides in ({}, {"no_faulthandler": True}):
+            ast.parse(self._header(**overrides))
+
+    def test_no_faulthandler_option_omits_it(self):
+        header = self._header(no_faulthandler=True)
+        self.assertNotIn("_fusil_faulthandler", header)
+        self.assertIn("from gc import collect", header)