diff --git a/Lib/whichdb.py b/Lib/whichdb.py
index deb8a0218d7..cc5ced3acd1 100644
--- a/Lib/whichdb.py
+++ b/Lib/whichdb.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# !/usr/bin/env python
 """Guess which db package to use to open a db file."""
 
 import os
@@ -110,3 +111,7 @@ def whichdb(filename):
 
     # Unknown
     return ""
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    for filename in sys.argv[1:]:
+        print whichdb(filename) or "UNKNOWN", filename
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 0d5dcc5d1c1..828b1d0c374 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ Extension Modules
 Library
 -------
 
+- The whichdb module can now be run from the command line.
+
 - Bug #1045381: time.strptime() can now infer the date using %U or %W (week of
   the year) when the day of the week and year are also specified.