diff --git a/bin/bitbake-setup b/bin/bitbake-setup
index ef7ce35b4..694e68c09 100755
--- a/bin/bitbake-setup
+++ b/bin/bitbake-setup
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ import stat
 import tempfile
 import configparser
 import datetime
+import glob
+import subprocess
 
 default_registry = 'git://github.com/kanavin/bitbake-setup-configurations.git;protocol=https;branch=main;rev=main'
 
@@ -537,6 +539,25 @@ def list_configs(settings, args, d):
             json.dump(json_data, f, sort_keys=True, indent=4)
         print("Available configurations written into {}".format(args.write_json))
 
+def install_buildtools(settings, args, d):
+    buildtools_install_dir = os.path.join(args.build_dir, 'buildtools')
+    if os.path.exists(buildtools_install_dir):
+        if not args.force:
+            print("Buildtools are already installed in {}.".format(buildtools_install_dir))
+            env_scripts = glob.glob(os.path.join(buildtools_install_dir, 'environment-setup-*'))
+            if env_scripts:
+                print("If you wish to use them, you need to source the environment setup script e.g.")
+                for s in env_scripts:
+                    print("$ . {}".format(s))
+            print("You can also re-run bitbake-setup install-buildtools with --force option to force a reinstallation.")
+            return
+        shutil.rmtree(buildtools_install_dir)
+
+    install_buildtools = os.path.join(args.build_dir, 'layers/oe-scripts/install-buildtools')
+    buildtools_download_dir = os.path.join(args.build_dir, 'buildtools-downloads/{}'.format(time.strftime("%Y%m%d%H%M%S")))
+    print("Buildtools archive is downloaded into {} and its content installed into {}".format(buildtools_download_dir, buildtools_install_dir))
+    subprocess.check_call("{} -d {} --downloads-directory {}".format(install_buildtools, buildtools_install_dir, buildtools_download_dir), shell=True)
+
 def default_settings_path(top_dir):
     return os.path.join(top_dir, 'bitbake-setup.conf')
 
@@ -721,6 +742,11 @@ def main():
     add_build_dir_arg(parser_update)
     parser_update.set_defaults(func=build_update)
 
+    parser_install_buildtools = subparsers.add_parser('install-buildtools', help='Install buildtools which can help fulfil missing or incorrect dependencies on the host machine')
+    add_build_dir_arg(parser_install_buildtools)
+    parser_install_buildtools.add_argument('--force', action='store_true', help='Force a reinstall of buildtools over the previous installation.')
+    parser_install_buildtools.set_defaults(func=install_buildtools)
+
     parser_install_settings = subparsers.add_parser('install-settings', help='Write a settings file with default values into the top level directory (contains the location of build configuration registry, downloads directory and other settings specific to a top directory)')
     add_top_dir_arg(parser_install_settings)
     parser_install_settings.set_defaults(func=write_settings)
diff --git a/lib/bb/tests/setup.py b/lib/bb/tests/setup.py
index ab4dbf762..fb2c15f54 100644
--- a/lib/bb/tests/setup.py
+++ b/lib/bb/tests/setup.py
@@ -49,6 +49,21 @@ with open(os.path.join(builddir, 'init-build-env'), 'w') as f:
 """
         self.add_file_to_testrepo('scripts/oe-setup-build', oesetupbuild, script=True)
 
+        installbuildtools = """#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import getopt
+import sys
+import os
+
+opts, args = getopt.getopt(sys.argv[1:], "d:", ["downloads-directory="])
+for option, value in opts:
+    if option == '-d':
+        installdir = value
+
+print("Buildtools installed into {}".format(installdir))
+os.makedirs(installdir)
+"""
+        self.add_file_to_testrepo('scripts/install-buildtools', installbuildtools, script=True)
+
         bitbakeconfigbuild = """#!/usr/bin/env python3
 import os
 import sys
@@ -224,6 +239,11 @@ print("BBPATH is {{}}".format(os.environ["BBPATH"]))
                 out = self.runbbsetup("update")
                 self.assertIn("Configuration in {} has not changed".format(buildpath), out[0])
 
+        # install buildtools
+        out = self.runbbsetup("install-buildtools")
+        self.assertIn("Buildtools installed into", out[0])
+        self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(os.path.join(buildpath, 'buildtools')))
+
         # change a file in the test layer repo, make a new commit and
         # test that status/update correctly report the change and update the config
         prev_test_file_content = test_file_content