diff --git a/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.c b/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.c
index 5a1537c3deec..517130aa2819 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.c
+++ b/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.c
@@ -59,11 +59,11 @@ void rtlsym_init()
 
         //printf("rtlsym_init(%s)\n", regm_str(FREGSAVED));
 
-#if MARS
         type *t = type_fake(TYnfunc);
         t->Tmangle = mTYman_c;
         t->Tcount++;
 
+#if MARS
         // Variadic function
         type *tv = type_fake(TYnfunc);
         tv->Tmangle = mTYman_c;
diff --git a/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.d b/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.d
index 2deb05016538..c20d25b7d095 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.d
+++ b/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.d
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ enum
     RTLSYM_DSWITCHERR,
     RTLSYM_DHIDDENFUNC,
     RTLSYM_NEWCLASS,
+    RTLSYM_NEWTHROW,
     RTLSYM_NEWARRAYT,
     RTLSYM_NEWARRAYIT,
     RTLSYM_NEWITEMT,
diff --git a/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.h b/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.h
index 01b34a326ee0..e5841933dc94 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.h
+++ b/src/ddmd/backend/rtlsym.h
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ SYMBOL_MARS(SWITCH_DSTRING,FLfunc,FREGSAVED,"_d_switch_dstring", 0, t) \
 SYMBOL_MARS(DSWITCHERR,    FLfunc,FREGSAVED,"_d_switch_error", SFLexit, t) \
 SYMBOL_MARS(DHIDDENFUNC,   FLfunc,FREGSAVED,"_d_hidden_func", 0, t) \
 SYMBOL_MARS(NEWCLASS,      FLfunc,FREGSAVED,"_d_newclass", 0, t) \
+SYMBOL_MARS(NEWTHROW,      FLfunc,FREGSAVED,"_d_newThrowable", 0, t) \
 SYMBOL_MARS(NEWARRAYT,     FLfunc,FREGSAVED,"_d_newarrayT", 0, t) \
 SYMBOL_MARS(NEWARRAYIT,    FLfunc,FREGSAVED,"_d_newarrayiT", 0, t) \
 SYMBOL_MARS(NEWITEMT,     FLfunc,FREGSAVED,"_d_newitemT", 0, t) \
diff --git a/src/ddmd/declaration.d b/src/ddmd/declaration.d
index f3556425a565..d4a7ee7fd5e2 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/declaration.d
+++ b/src/ddmd/declaration.d
@@ -986,9 +986,10 @@ extern (C++) class VarDeclaration : Declaration
     uint sequenceNumber;            // order the variables are declared
     __gshared uint nextSequenceNumber;   // the counter for sequenceNumber
     FuncDeclarations nestedrefs;    // referenced by these lexically nested functions
-    bool isargptr;                  // if parameter that _argptr points to
     structalign_t alignment;
+    bool isargptr;                  // if parameter that _argptr points to
     bool ctorinit;                  // it has been initialized in a ctor
+    bool iscatchvar;                // this is the exception object variable in catch() clause
 
     // Both these mean the var is not rebindable once assigned,
     // and the destructor gets run when it goes out of scope
@@ -1275,6 +1276,9 @@ extern (C++) class VarDeclaration : Declaration
             return null;
         }
 
+        if (iscatchvar)
+            return null;    // destructor is built by `void semantic(Catch c, Scope* sc)`, not here
+
         Expression e = null;
         // Destructors for structs and arrays of structs
         Type tv = type.baseElemOf();
diff --git a/src/ddmd/declaration.h b/src/ddmd/declaration.h
index 83083e5b7ec5..f380cb6c6a13 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/declaration.h
+++ b/src/ddmd/declaration.h
@@ -240,9 +240,10 @@ class VarDeclaration : public Declaration
     unsigned offset;
     unsigned sequenceNumber;     // order the variables are declared
     FuncDeclarations nestedrefs; // referenced by these lexically nested functions
-    bool isargptr;              // if parameter that _argptr points to
     structalign_t alignment;
+    bool isargptr;              // if parameter that _argptr points to
     bool ctorinit;              // it has been initialized in a ctor
+    bool iscatchvar;            // this is the exception object variable in catch() clause
     bool onstack;               // it is a class that was allocated on the stack
     bool mynew;                 // it is a class new'd with custom operator new
     int canassign;              // it can be assigned to
diff --git a/src/ddmd/escape.d b/src/ddmd/escape.d
index 663d5f219acf..6c1c6cd133a4 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/escape.d
+++ b/src/ddmd/escape.d
@@ -489,7 +489,8 @@ bool checkThrowEscape(Scope* sc, Expression e, bool gag)
 
         Dsymbol p = v.toParent2();
 
-        if (v.isScope())
+        if (v.isScope() && !v.iscatchvar)       // special case: allow catch var to be rethrown
+                                                // despite being `scope`
         {
             if (sc._module && sc._module.isRoot())
             {
diff --git a/src/ddmd/expression.d b/src/ddmd/expression.d
index f5d96ef58b43..4c641d9c95f3 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/expression.d
+++ b/src/ddmd/expression.d
@@ -4037,10 +4037,12 @@ extern (C++) final class NewExp : Expression
     Expressions* newargs;       // Array of Expression's to call new operator
     Type newtype;
     Expressions* arguments;     // Array of Expression's
+
     Expression argprefix;       // expression to be evaluated just before arguments[]
     CtorDeclaration member;     // constructor function
     NewDeclaration allocator;   // allocator function
-    int onstack;                // allocate on stack
+    bool onstack;               // allocate on stack
+    bool thrownew;              // this NewExp is the expression of a ThrowStatement
 
     extern (D) this(Loc loc, Expression thisexp, Expressions* newargs, Type newtype, Expressions* arguments)
     {
diff --git a/src/ddmd/expression.h b/src/ddmd/expression.h
index 40aa0d5a3906..2dc4bd210ac9 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/expression.h
+++ b/src/ddmd/expression.h
@@ -518,7 +518,8 @@ class NewExp : public Expression
 
     CtorDeclaration *member;    // constructor function
     NewDeclaration *allocator;  // allocator function
-    int onstack;                // allocate on stack
+    bool onstack;               // allocate on stack
+    bool thrownew;              // this NewExp is the expression of a ThrowStatement
 
     static NewExp *create(Loc loc, Expression *thisexp, Expressions *newargs, Type *newtype, Expressions *arguments);
     Expression *syntaxCopy();
diff --git a/src/ddmd/globals.d b/src/ddmd/globals.d
index 1dd3690fcfc5..30ce37b0b22a 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/globals.d
+++ b/src/ddmd/globals.d
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ struct Param
     bool fix16997;          // fix integral promotions for unary + - ~ operators
                             // https://issues.dlang.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16997
     bool vsafe;             // use enhanced @safe checking
+    bool ehnogc;            // use @nogc exception handling
     /** The --transition=safe switch should only be used to show code with
      * silent semantics changes related to @safe improvements.  It should not be
      * used to hide a feature that will have to go through deprecate-then-error
diff --git a/src/ddmd/globals.h b/src/ddmd/globals.h
index 98da2e88995b..7cbe67f87b33 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/globals.h
+++ b/src/ddmd/globals.h
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ struct Param
     bool fix16997;      // fix integral promotions for unary + - ~ operators
                         // https://issues.dlang.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16997
     bool vsafe;         // use enhanced @safe checking
+    bool ehnogc;        // use @nogc exception handling
     bool showGaggedErrors;  // print gagged errors anyway
     bool manual;            // open browser on compiler manual
     bool usage;             // print usage and exit
diff --git a/src/ddmd/id.d b/src/ddmd/id.d
index a2c7cedd9480..316ecaa15a76 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/id.d
+++ b/src/ddmd/id.d
@@ -291,6 +291,7 @@ immutable Msgtable[] msgtable =
     { "_ArrayEq" },
     { "_ArrayPostblit" },
     { "_ArrayDtor" },
+    { "_d_delThrowable" },
 
     // For pragma's
     { "Pinline", "inline" },
diff --git a/src/ddmd/mars.d b/src/ddmd/mars.d
index 3e943bfd0586..608e0e554907 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/mars.d
+++ b/src/ddmd/mars.d
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ Where:
   "%s" /* placeholder for fpic */ ~ "
   -dip25           implement http://wiki.dlang.org/DIP25 (experimental)
   -dip1000         implement http://wiki.dlang.org/DIP1000 (experimental)
+  -dip1008         implement DIP1008 (experimental)
   -g               add symbolic debug info
   -gf              emit debug info for all referenced types
   -gs              always emit stack frame
@@ -1954,6 +1955,10 @@ private bool parseCommandLine(const ref Strings arguments, const size_t argc, re
                 params.useDIP25 = true;
                 params.vsafe = true;
             }
+            else if (strcmp(p + 1, "dip1008") == 0)
+            {
+                params.ehnogc = true;
+            }
             else if (strcmp(p + 1, "lib") == 0) // https://dlang.org/dmd-windows.html#switch-lib
                 params.lib = true;
             else if (strcmp(p + 1, "nofloat") == 0)
diff --git a/src/ddmd/nogc.d b/src/ddmd/nogc.d
index 6e48fbe49d38..4e96f308ba5f 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/nogc.d
+++ b/src/ddmd/nogc.d
@@ -105,6 +105,8 @@ public:
             return;
         if (e.allocator)
             return;
+        if (global.params.ehnogc && e.thrownew)
+            return;                     // separate allocator is called for this, not the GC
         if (f.setGC())
         {
             e.error("cannot use 'new' in @nogc %s '%s'",
diff --git a/src/ddmd/statementsem.d b/src/ddmd/statementsem.d
index 09e2eeca174b..b33d6db2e517 100644
--- a/src/ddmd/statementsem.d
+++ b/src/ddmd/statementsem.d
@@ -3808,6 +3808,12 @@ else
         FuncDeclaration fd = sc.parent.isFuncDeclaration();
         fd.hasReturnExp |= 2;
 
+        if (ts.exp.op == TOKnew)
+        {
+            NewExp ne = cast(NewExp)ts.exp;
+            ne.thrownew = true;
+        }
+
         ts.exp = ts.exp.expressionSemantic(sc);
         ts.exp = resolveProperties(sc, ts.exp);
         ts.exp = checkGC(sc, ts.exp);
@@ -4010,6 +4016,7 @@ void catchSemantic(Catch c, Scope* sc)
         c.errors = true;
     else
     {
+        StorageClass stc;
         auto cd = c.type.toBasetype().isClassHandle();
         if (!cd)
         {
@@ -4041,12 +4048,35 @@ void catchSemantic(Catch c, Scope* sc)
             error(c.loc, "can only catch class objects derived from Exception in @safe code, not `%s`", c.type.toChars());
             c.errors = true;
         }
+        else if (global.params.ehnogc)
+        {
+            stc |= STCscope;
+        }
 
         if (c.ident)
         {
-            c.var = new VarDeclaration(c.loc, c.type, c.ident, null);
+            c.var = new VarDeclaration(c.loc, c.type, c.ident, null, stc);
+            c.var.iscatchvar = true;
             c.var.dsymbolSemantic(sc);
             sc.insert(c.var);
+
+            if (global.params.ehnogc && stc & STCscope)
+            {
+                /* Add a destructor for c.var
+                 * try { handler } finally { if (!__ctfe) _d_delThrowable(var); }
+                 */
+                assert(!c.var.edtor);           // ensure we didn't create one in callScopeDtor()
+
+                Loc loc = c.loc;
+                Expression e = new VarExp(loc, c.var);
+                e = new CallExp(loc, new IdentifierExp(loc, Id._d_delThrowable), e);
+
+                Expression ec = new IdentifierExp(loc, Id.ctfe);
+                ec = new NotExp(loc, ec);
+                Statement s = new IfStatement(loc, null, ec, new ExpStatement(loc, e), null, loc);
+                c.handler = new TryFinallyStatement(loc, c.handler, s);
+            }
+
         }
         c.handler = c.handler.statementSemantic(sc);
         if (c.handler && c.handler.isErrorStatement())
diff --git a/test/compilable/testdip1008.d b/test/compilable/testdip1008.d
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..12a32ab27cb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/compilable/testdip1008.d
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// PERMUTE_ARGS:
+// won't work until druntime is updated, so disable XXXEQUIRED_ARGS: -dip1008
+
+int bar()
+{
+    try
+    {
+	throw new Exception("message");
+    }
+    catch (Exception e)
+    {
+	return 7;
+    }
+}
+
+
+void foo()
+{
+    enum r = bar();
+    static assert(r == 7);
+}