diff --git a/infer/lib/python/infer.py b/infer/lib/python/infer.py
index 8569912af..f46f7ab5a 100755
--- a/infer/lib/python/infer.py
+++ b/infer/lib/python/infer.py
@@ -211,10 +211,6 @@ def main():
     if not (buck_not_in_compilation_database_mode or
             mod_name == 'javac' or
             mod_name == 'java'):
-        # Something should be already captured, otherwise analysis would fail
-        if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(args.infer_out, 'captured')):
-            print('There was nothing to analyze, exiting')
-            exit(os.EX_USAGE)
         analysis = analyze.AnalyzerWrapper(args)
         analysis.analyze_and_report()
         analysis.save_stats()
diff --git a/infer/src/backend/infer.ml b/infer/src/backend/infer.ml
index 9dbfd87d7..40f48466d 100644
--- a/infer/src/backend/infer.ml
+++ b/infer/src/backend/infer.ml
@@ -9,7 +9,27 @@
 
 open! Utils
 
-(** Top-level driver that orchestrates build system integration, frontends, and backend *)
+(** Top-level driver that orchestrates build system integration, frontends, backend, and
+    reporting *)
+
+module L = Logging
+
+let rec rmtree name =
+  match Unix.opendir name with
+  | dir -> (
+      match Unix.readdir dir with
+      | entry when entry = Filename.current_dir_name || entry = Filename.parent_dir_name ->
+          ()
+      | entry ->
+          rmtree entry
+      | exception End_of_file ->
+          Unix.closedir dir ;
+          Unix.rmdir name
+    )
+  | exception Unix.Unix_error (Unix.ENOTDIR, _, _) ->
+      Unix.unlink name
+  | exception Unix.Unix_error (Unix.ENOENT, _, _) ->
+      ()
 
 (** as the Config.fail_on_bug flag mandates, exit with error when an issue is reported *)
 let fail_on_issue_epilogue () =
@@ -20,69 +40,144 @@ let fail_on_issue_epilogue () =
       if issues <> [] then exit Config.fail_on_issue_exit_code
   | None -> ()
 
-let () =
-  let infer_py = Config.lib_dir // "python" // "infer.py" in
-  let build_cmd = IList.rev Config.rest in
-  let in_buck_mode = match build_cmd with "buck" :: _ -> true | _ -> false in
-  let args_py =
-    Array.of_list (
-      infer_py ::
-      Config.anon_args @
-      (match Config.analyzer with None -> [] | Some a ->
-          ["--analyzer";
-           IList.assoc (=) a (IList.map (fun (n,a) -> (a,n)) Config.string_to_analyzer)]) @
-      (match Config.blacklist with
-       | Some s when in_buck_mode -> ["--blacklist-regex"; s]
-       | _ -> []) @
-      (if not Config.create_harness then [] else
-         ["--android-harness"]) @
-      (if not Config.buck then [] else
-         ["--buck"]) @
-      (match Config.java_jar_compiler with None -> [] | Some p ->
-          ["--java-jar-compiler"; p]) @
-      (match IList.rev Config.buck_build_args with
-       | args when in_buck_mode ->
-           IList.map (fun arg -> ["--Xbuck"; "'" ^ arg ^ "'"]) args |> IList.flatten
-       | _ -> []) @
-      (if not Config.continue_capture then [] else
-         ["--continue"]) @
-      (if not Config.debug_mode then [] else
-         ["--debug"]) @
-      (if not Config.debug_exceptions then [] else
-         ["--debug-exceptions"]) @
-      (if Config.filtering then [] else
-         ["--no-filtering"]) @
-      (if not Config.flavors || not in_buck_mode then [] else
-         ["--use-flavors"]) @
-      (if Option.is_none Config.use_compilation_database || not in_buck_mode then [] else
-         ["--use-compilation-database"]) @
-      "-j" :: (string_of_int Config.jobs) ::
-      "-l" :: (string_of_float Config.load_average) ::
-      (if not Config.pmd_xml then [] else
-         ["--pmd-xml"]) @
-      (if not Config.reactive_mode then [] else
-         ["--reactive"]) @
-      "--out" :: Config.results_dir ::
-      (match Config.xcode_developer_dir with None -> [] | Some d ->
-          ["--xcode-developer-dir"; d]) @
-      (if Config.rest = [] then [] else
-         ("--" :: build_cmd))
-    ) in
-  let pid = Unix.create_process args_py.(0) args_py Unix.stdin Unix.stdout Unix.stderr in
+(* permissions used for created files *)
+let file_perm = 0o0666
+
+let create_results_dir () =
+  create_path (Config.results_dir // Config.captured_dir_name) ;
+  create_path (Config.results_dir // Config.sources_dir_name) ;
+  create_path (Config.results_dir // Config.specs_dir_name)
+
+let touch_start_file () =
+  let start = Config.results_dir // Config.start_filename in
+  let flags =
+    Unix.O_CREAT :: Unix.O_WRONLY :: (if Config.continue_capture then [Unix.O_EXCL] else []) in
+  (* create new file, or open existing file for writing to update modified timestamp *)
+  try Unix.close (Unix.openfile start flags file_perm)
+  with Unix.Unix_error (Unix.EEXIST, _, _) -> ()
+
+type build_mode = Analyze | Ant | Buck | Gradle | Java | Javac | Make | Mvn | Ndk | Xcode
+
+let build_mode_of_string path =
+  match Filename.basename path with
+  | "analyze" -> Analyze
+  | "ant" -> Ant
+  | "buck" -> Buck
+  | "gradle" | "gradlew" -> Gradle
+  | "java" -> Java
+  | "javac" -> Javac
+  | "cc" | "clang" | "clang++" | "cmake" | "configure" | "g++" | "gcc" | "make" | "waf" -> Make
+  | "mvn" -> Mvn
+  | "ndk-build" -> Ndk
+  | "xcodebuild" -> Xcode
+  | cmd -> failwithf "Unsupported build command %s" cmd
+
+let remove_results_dir build_mode =
+  if not (build_mode = Analyze || Config.buck || Config.reactive_mode) then
+    rmtree Config.results_dir
+
+let run_command cmd_list after_wait =
+  let cmd = Array.of_list cmd_list in
+  let pid = Unix.create_process cmd.(0) cmd Unix.stdin Unix.stdout Unix.stderr in
   let _, status = Unix.waitpid [] pid in
-  let exit_code = match status with
-    | Unix.WEXITED i -> i
-    | _ -> 1 in
-  if exit_code = Config.infer_py_argparse_error_exit_code then
-    (* swallow infer.py argument parsing error *)
-    Config.print_usage_exit ();
+  let exit_code = match status with Unix.WEXITED i -> i | _ -> 1 in
+  after_wait exit_code ;
   if exit_code <> 0 then (
-    prerr_endline ("Failed to execute: " ^ (String.concat " " (Array.to_list args_py))) ;
+    L.err "Failed to execute: %s@\n" (String.concat " " cmd_list) ;
     exit exit_code
-  );
+  )
+
+let capture build_cmd = function
+  | build_mode ->
+      let in_buck_mode = build_mode = Buck in
+      let infer_py = Config.lib_dir // "python" // "infer.py" in
+      run_command (
+        infer_py ::
+        Config.anon_args @
+        (match Config.analyzer with None -> [] | Some a ->
+            ["--analyzer";
+             IList.assoc (=) a (IList.map (fun (n,a) -> (a,n)) Config.string_to_analyzer)]) @
+        (match Config.blacklist with
+         | Some s when in_buck_mode -> ["--blacklist-regex"; s]
+         | _ -> []) @
+        (if not Config.create_harness then [] else
+           ["--android-harness"]) @
+        (if not Config.buck then [] else
+           ["--buck"]) @
+        (match Config.java_jar_compiler with None -> [] | Some p ->
+            ["--java-jar-compiler"; p]) @
+        (match IList.rev Config.buck_build_args with
+         | args when in_buck_mode ->
+             IList.map (fun arg -> ["--Xbuck"; "'" ^ arg ^ "'"]) args |> IList.flatten
+         | _ -> []) @
+        (if not Config.continue_capture then [] else
+           ["--continue"]) @
+        (if not Config.debug_mode then [] else
+           ["--debug"]) @
+        (if not Config.debug_exceptions then [] else
+           ["--debug-exceptions"]) @
+        (if Config.filtering then [] else
+           ["--no-filtering"]) @
+        (if not Config.flavors || not in_buck_mode then [] else
+           ["--use-flavors"]) @
+        (if Option.is_none Config.use_compilation_database || not in_buck_mode then [] else
+           ["--use-compilation-database"]) @
+        "-j" :: (string_of_int Config.jobs) ::
+        "-l" :: (string_of_float Config.load_average) ::
+        (if not Config.pmd_xml then [] else
+           ["--pmd-xml"]) @
+        (if not Config.reactive_mode then [] else
+           ["--reactive"]) @
+        "--out" :: Config.results_dir ::
+        (match Config.xcode_developer_dir with None -> [] | Some d ->
+            ["--xcode-developer-dir"; d]) @
+        (if Config.rest = [] then [] else
+           ("--" :: build_cmd))
+      ) (fun exit_code ->
+          if exit_code = Config.infer_py_argparse_error_exit_code then
+            (* swallow infer.py argument parsing error *)
+            Config.print_usage_exit ()
+        )
+
+let analyze = function
+  | Buck when Config.use_compilation_database = None ->
+      (* In Buck mode when compilation db is not used, analysis is invoked either from capture or a
+         separate Analyze invocation is necessary, depending on the buck flavor used. *)
+      ()
+  | Java | Javac ->
+      (* In Java and Javac modes, analysis is invoked from capture. *)
+      ()
+  | Analyze | Ant | Buck | Gradle | Make | Mvn | Ndk | Xcode ->
+      if not (Sys.file_exists Config.(results_dir // captured_dir_name)) then (
+        L.err "There was nothing to analyze, exiting" ;
+        Config.print_usage_exit ()
+      );
+      (match Config.analyzer with
+       | None | Some (Infer | Eradicate | Checkers | Tracing | Crashcontext | Quandary) ->
+           (* Still handled by infer.py through capture function above *)
+           ()
+       | Some Linters ->
+           (* Still handled by infer.py through capture function above *)
+           ()
+       | Some (Capture | Compile) ->
+           (* Still handled by infer.py through capture function above *)
+           ()
+      )
+
+let epilogue build_mode =
   if Config.is_originator then (
     if Config.analyzer = Some Config.Crashcontext then
-      Crashcontext.crashcontext_epilogue ~in_buck_mode;
+      Crashcontext.crashcontext_epilogue ~in_buck_mode:(build_mode = Buck);
     if Config.fail_on_bug then
       fail_on_issue_epilogue ();
   )
+
+let () =
+  let build_cmd = IList.rev Config.rest in
+  let build_mode = match build_cmd with path :: _ -> build_mode_of_string path | [] -> Analyze in
+  remove_results_dir build_mode ;
+  create_results_dir () ;
+  touch_start_file () ;
+  capture build_cmd build_mode ;
+  analyze build_mode ;
+  epilogue build_mode