The [failure crate](https://github.com/rust-lang-nursery/failure), which depends on this, supports Rust versions as far back as Rust 1.18. This crate seems to only test on CI against current stable. It is hence not entirely surprising that [backtrace currently fails to build against Rust 1.18](https://travis-ci.org/rust-lang-nursery/failure/jobs/466672292).