diff --git a/CHANGELOG-2.1.md b/CHANGELOG-2.1.md
index 0111cf2ade..fba86109c4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG-2.1.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG-2.1.md
@@ -162,6 +162,10 @@ To get the diff between two versions, go to https://github.com/symfony/symfony/c
 
  * added Locale::getIcuVersion() and Locale::getIcuDataVersion()
 
+### Process
+
+ * added ProcessBuilder
+
 ### Routing
 
  * added a TraceableUrlMatcher
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..90dad5ad41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Process;
+
+/**
+ * Process builder.
+ *
+ * @author Kris Wallsmith <kris@symfony.com>
+ */
+class ProcessBuilder
+{
+    private $arguments;
+    private $cwd;
+    private $env;
+    private $stdin;
+    private $timeout;
+    private $options;
+    private $inheritEnv;
+
+    public function __construct(array $arguments = array())
+    {
+        $this->arguments = $arguments;
+
+        $this->timeout = 60;
+        $this->options = array();
+        $this->inheritEnv = false;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Adds an unescaped argument to the command string.
+     *
+     * @param string $argument A command argument
+     */
+    public function add($argument)
+    {
+        $this->arguments[] = $argument;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    public function setWorkingDirectory($cwd)
+    {
+        $this->cwd = $cwd;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    public function inheritEnvironmentVariables($inheritEnv = true)
+    {
+        $this->inheritEnv = $inheritEnv;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    public function setEnv($name, $value)
+    {
+        if (null === $this->env) {
+            $this->env = array();
+        }
+
+        $this->env[$name] = $value;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    public function setInput($stdin)
+    {
+        $this->stdin = $stdin;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    public function setTimeout($timeout)
+    {
+        $this->timeout = $timeout;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    public function setOption($name, $value)
+    {
+        $this->options[$name] = $value;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    public function getProcess()
+    {
+        if (!count($this->arguments)) {
+            throw new \LogicException('You must add() command arguments before calling getProcess().');
+        }
+
+        $options = $this->options;
+
+        if (defined('PHP_WINDOWS_VERSION_MAJOR')) {
+            $options['bypass_shell'] = true;
+
+            $arguments = $this->arguments;
+            $command = array_shift($arguments);
+
+            $script = '"'.$command.'"';
+            if ($arguments) {
+                $script .= ' '.implode(' ', array_map('escapeshellarg', $arguments));
+            }
+
+            $script = 'cmd /V:ON /E:ON /C "'.$script.'"';
+        } else {
+            $script = implode(' ', array_map('escapeshellarg', $this->arguments));
+        }
+
+        $env = $this->inheritEnv && $_ENV ? ($this->env ?: array()) + $_ENV : $this->env;
+
+        return new Process($script, $this->cwd, $env, $this->stdin, $this->timeout, $options);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Symfony/Tests/Component/Process/ProcessBuilderTest.php b/tests/Symfony/Tests/Component/Process/ProcessBuilderTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..56a15d3fba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Symfony/Tests/Component/Process/ProcessBuilderTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Tests\Component\Process;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Process\ProcessBuilder;
+
+class ProcessBuilderTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    /**
+     * @test
+     */
+    public function shouldInheritEnvironmentVars()
+    {
+        $snapshot = $_ENV;
+        $_ENV = $expected = array('foo' => 'bar');
+
+        $pb = new ProcessBuilder();
+        $pb->add('foo')->inheritEnvironmentVariables();
+        $proc = $pb->getProcess();
+
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $proc->getEnv(), '->inheritEnvironmentVariables() copies $_ENV');
+
+        $_ENV = $snapshot;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @test
+     */
+    public function shouldNotReplaceExplicitlySetVars()
+    {
+        $snapshot = $_ENV;
+        $_ENV = array('foo' => 'bar');
+        $expected = array('foo' => 'baz');
+
+        $pb = new ProcessBuilder();
+        $pb
+            ->setEnv('foo', 'baz')
+            ->inheritEnvironmentVariables()
+            ->add('foo')
+        ;
+        $proc = $pb->getProcess();
+
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $proc->getEnv(), '->inheritEnvironmentVariables() copies $_ENV');
+
+        $_ENV = $snapshot;
+    }
+}