diff --git a/nse_debug.cc b/nse_debug.cc
index 72aeb8be81..ad715fa566 100644
--- a/nse_debug.cc
+++ b/nse_debug.cc
@@ -1,35 +1,94 @@
 #include "nse_debug.h"
 #include "output.h"
 
+/* Print a Lua table. depth_limit is the limit on recursive printing of
+   subtables. */
+static void table_dump (lua_State *L, int i, int depth_limit)
+{
+  assert(lua_type(L, i) == LUA_TTABLE);
+  printf("{ ");
+  lua_pushvalue(L, i);
+  lua_pushnil(L);
+  while (lua_next(L, -2) != 0) {
+    value_dump(L, -2, depth_limit - 1);
+    printf(" = ");
+    value_dump(L, -1, depth_limit - 1);
+    printf(", ");
+    lua_pop(L, 1);
+  }
+  lua_pop(L, 1);
+  printf("}");
+}
+
+/* Print a Lua value. depth_limit controls the depth to which tables will be
+   printed recursively (0 for no recursion). */
+void value_dump (lua_State *L, int i, int depth_limit)
+{
+  int t = lua_type(L, i);
+  switch (t)
+  {
+    case LUA_TSTRING:  /* strings */
+      printf("'%s'", lua_tostring(L, i));
+      break;
+    case LUA_TBOOLEAN:  /* booleans */
+      printf(lua_toboolean(L, i) ? "true" : "false");
+      break;
+    case LUA_TNUMBER:  /* numbers */
+      printf("%g", lua_tonumber(L, i));
+      break;
+    case LUA_TTABLE:
+      if (depth_limit > 0)
+        table_dump(L, i, depth_limit);
+      else
+        printf("table: %p", lua_topointer(L, i));
+      break;
+    case LUA_TTHREAD:
+    case LUA_TFUNCTION:
+    case LUA_TUSERDATA:
+    case LUA_TLIGHTUSERDATA:
+      printf("%s: %p", lua_typename(L, t), lua_topointer(L, i));
+      break;
+    default:  /* other values */
+      printf("%s", lua_typename(L, t));
+      break;
+  }
+}
+
 void stack_dump (lua_State *L)
 {
   int i, top = lua_gettop(L);
   for (i = 1; i <= top; i++)
-  {  /* repeat for each level */
-    int t = lua_type(L, i);
+  {
     printf("[%d, %d] = ", i, (-top + i - 1));
-    switch (t)
-    {
-      case LUA_TSTRING:  /* strings */
-        printf("'%s'", lua_tostring(L, i));
-        break;
-      case LUA_TBOOLEAN:  /* booleans */
-        printf(lua_toboolean(L, i) ? "true" : "false");
-        break;
-      case LUA_TNUMBER:  /* numbers */
-        printf("%g", lua_tonumber(L, i));
-        break;
-      case LUA_TTABLE:
-      case LUA_TTHREAD:
-      case LUA_TFUNCTION:
-      case LUA_TUSERDATA:
-      case LUA_TLIGHTUSERDATA:
-        printf("%s: %p", lua_typename(L, t), lua_topointer(L, i));
-        break;
-      default:  /* other values */
-        printf("%s", lua_typename(L, t));
-        break;
-    }
+    value_dump(L, i, 0);
     printf("\n");
   }
 }
+
+void lua_state_dump (lua_State *L)
+{
+  int top;
+
+  printf("=== LUA STATE ===\n");
+
+  top = lua_gettop(L);
+  printf("=== STACK (height %d)\n", top);
+  stack_dump(L);
+
+  printf("=== GLOBALS\n");
+  table_dump(L, LUA_GLOBALSINDEX, 0);
+  printf("\n");
+
+  printf("=== REGISTRY\n");
+  table_dump(L, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, 0);
+  printf("\n");
+
+  printf("=== nmap.registry\n");
+  lua_getglobal(L, "nmap");
+  lua_getfield(L, -1, "registry");
+  table_dump(L, -1, 1);
+  printf("\n");
+  lua_pop(L, 2);
+
+  assert(lua_gettop(L) == top);
+}
diff --git a/nse_debug.h b/nse_debug.h
index 9e35818524..da6c2b4d31 100644
--- a/nse_debug.h
+++ b/nse_debug.h
@@ -2,12 +2,14 @@
 #define NSE_DEBUG
 
 extern "C" {
-	#include "lua.h"
-	#include "lualib.h"
-	#include "lauxlib.h"
+#include "lua.h"
+#include "lualib.h"
+#include "lauxlib.h"
 }
 
+void value_dump(lua_State *L, int i, int depth_limit);
 void stack_dump(lua_State *L);
+void lua_state_dump(lua_State *L);
 
 #endif