diff --git a/docs/panels.rst b/docs/panels.rst
index 1c9252d..a959be1 100644
--- a/docs/panels.rst
+++ b/docs/panels.rst
@@ -72,10 +72,14 @@ Shows SQL queries run during the current request.
    For additional details on query recording see the
    :py:func:`~flask_sqlalchemy.get_debug_queries` documentation.
 
+   If you use raw sqlalchemy with `Flask-SQLAlchemy-Session`_ pass the engine
+   in like DebugToolbarExtension(app, sqlalchemy_engine=engine)
+
+
 .. image:: _static/screenshot-sqlalchemy-panel.png
 
 .. _Flask-SQLAlchemy: http://flask-sqlalchemy.pocoo.org/
-
+.. _Flask-SQLAlchemy-Session: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/Flask-SQLAlchemy-Session
 
 Logging
 -------
diff --git a/flask_debugtoolbar/__init__.py b/flask_debugtoolbar/__init__.py
index 80c896d..7889ae1 100644
--- a/flask_debugtoolbar/__init__.py
+++ b/flask_debugtoolbar/__init__.py
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ class DebugToolbarExtension(object):
 
     _redirect_codes = [301, 302, 303, 304]
 
-    def __init__(self, app=None):
+    def __init__(self, app=None, sqlalchemy_engine=None):
         self.app = app
+        self.engine = sqlalchemy_engine
         self.debug_toolbars = {}
 
         # Configure jinja for the internal templates and add url rules
@@ -80,8 +81,19 @@ def init_app(self, app):
 
         app.add_url_rule('/_debug_toolbar/static/<path:filename>',
                          '_debug_toolbar.static', self.send_static_file)
-
-        app.register_blueprint(module, url_prefix='/_debug_toolbar/views')
+        if self.engine:
+            # use 'internal' API from flask_sqlalchemy to install events.
+            # maybe re-implement this for flask-debugtoolbar
+            from flask_sqlalchemy import _EngineDebuggingSignalEvents, _record_queries
+            if _record_queries(app):
+                _EngineDebuggingSignalEvents(
+                     engine=self.engine,
+                     import_name=app.import_name).register()
+
+        app.register_blueprint(
+            module,
+            url_prefix='/_debug_toolbar/views',
+            sqlalchemy_engine=self.engine)
 
     def _default_config(self, app):
         return {
diff --git a/flask_debugtoolbar/panels/sqlalchemy.py b/flask_debugtoolbar/panels/sqlalchemy.py
index ded1c10..b356436 100644
--- a/flask_debugtoolbar/panels/sqlalchemy.py
+++ b/flask_debugtoolbar/panels/sqlalchemy.py
@@ -12,6 +12,19 @@
 from flask_debugtoolbar.utils import format_fname, format_sql
 import itsdangerous
 
+_engine = None
+
+@module.record_once
+def store_engine(state):
+    global _engine
+    _engine = state.options.get('sqlalchemy_engine')
+
+
+def get_engine():
+    if _engine is not None:
+        return _engine
+    elif sqlalchemy_available:
+        return SQLAlchemy().get_engine(current_app)
 
 _ = lambda x: x
 
@@ -60,7 +73,7 @@ def recording_enabled():
 
 def is_available():
     return (json_available and sqlalchemy_available
-            and extension_used() and recording_enabled())
+            and (extension_used() or (_engine is not None)) and recording_enabled())
 
 
 def get_queries():
@@ -110,6 +123,7 @@ def content(self):
             return self.render('panels/sqlalchemy_error.html', {
                 'json_available': json_available,
                 'sqlalchemy_available': sqlalchemy_available,
+                'sqlalchemy_engine_available': _engine is not None,
                 'extension_used': extension_used(),
                 'recording_enabled': recording_enabled(),
             })
@@ -125,6 +139,7 @@ def content(self):
             })
         return self.render('panels/sqlalchemy.html', {'queries': data})
 
+
 # Panel views
 
 
@@ -133,7 +148,9 @@ def content(self):
               defaults=dict(explain=True))
 def sql_select(explain=False):
     statement, params = load_query(request.args['query'])
-    engine = SQLAlchemy().get_engine(current_app)
+    engine = get_engine()
+    if engine is None:
+        return 'No SQLAlchemy engine has been configured.'
 
     if explain:
         if engine.driver == 'pysqlite':
diff --git a/test/basic_app_plain_sqlalchemy.py b/test/basic_app_plain_sqlalchemy.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43277db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/basic_app_plain_sqlalchemy.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+from flask import Flask, render_template
+from flask_debugtoolbar import DebugToolbarExtension
+from sqlalchemy import Column, Integer, create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
+from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
+
+app = Flask('basic_app_plain_sqlalchemy')
+app.debug = True
+app.config['SECRET_KEY'] = 'abc123'
+
+# make sure these are printable in the config panel
+app.config['BYTES_VALUE'] = b'\x00'
+app.config['UNICODE_VALUE'] = u'\uffff'
+
+
+engine = create_engine('sqlite://')
+toolbar = DebugToolbarExtension(app, sqlalchemy_engine=engine)
+
+
+Base = declarative_base()
+class Foo(Base):
+    __tablename__ = 'foo'
+    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
+
+
+@app.route('/')
+def index():
+    Base.metadata.create_all(engine)
+    session = Session(engine)
+    session.query(Foo).filter_by(id=1).all()
+    return render_template('basic_app.html')
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    app.run()
\ No newline at end of file