diff --git a/Documentation/config.adoc b/Documentation/config.adoc
index cc769251be..a8b04c4e51 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/config.adoc
@@ -522,6 +522,8 @@ include::config/sequencer.adoc[]
 
 include::config/showbranch.adoc[]
 
+include::config/sideband.adoc[]
+
 include::config/sparse.adoc[]
 
 include::config/splitindex.adoc[]
diff --git a/Documentation/config/sideband.adoc b/Documentation/config/sideband.adoc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3fb5045cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/config/sideband.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+sideband.allowControlCharacters::
+	By default, control characters that are delivered via the sideband
+	are masked, to prevent potentially unwanted ANSI escape sequences
+	from being sent to the terminal. Use this config setting to override
+	this behavior.
diff --git a/sideband.c b/sideband.c
index 81b1ff0805..d1c326fa19 100644
--- a/sideband.c
+++ b/sideband.c
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ static struct keyword_entry keywords[] = {
 	{ "error",	GIT_COLOR_BOLD_RED },
 };
 
+static int allow_control_characters;
+
 /* Returns a color setting (GIT_COLOR_NEVER, etc). */
 static int use_sideband_colors(void)
 {
@@ -39,6 +41,9 @@ static int use_sideband_colors(void)
 	if (use_sideband_colors_cached >= 0)
 		return use_sideband_colors_cached;
 
+	git_config_get_bool("sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
+			    &allow_control_characters);
+
 	if (!git_config_get_string_tmp(key, &value))
 		use_sideband_colors_cached = git_config_colorbool(key, value);
 	else if (!git_config_get_string_tmp("color.ui", &value))
@@ -68,6 +73,11 @@ void list_config_color_sideband_slots(struct string_list *list, const char *pref
 
 static void strbuf_add_sanitized(struct strbuf *dest, const char *src, int n)
 {
+	if (allow_control_characters) {
+		strbuf_add(dest, src, n);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	strbuf_grow(dest, n);
 	for (; n && *src; src++, n--) {
 		if (!iscntrl(*src) || *src == '\t' || *src == '\n')
diff --git a/t/t5409-colorize-remote-messages.sh b/t/t5409-colorize-remote-messages.sh
index d0745c391b..fb31e85254 100755
--- a/t/t5409-colorize-remote-messages.sh
+++ b/t/t5409-colorize-remote-messages.sh
@@ -105,9 +105,15 @@ test_expect_success 'disallow (color) control sequences in sideband' '
 	EOF
 	test_config_global uploadPack.packObjectshook ./color-me-surprised &&
 	test_commit need-at-least-one-commit &&
+
 	git clone --no-local . throw-away 2>stderr &&
 	test_decode_color <stderr >decoded &&
-	test_grep ! RED decoded
+	test_grep ! RED decoded &&
+
+	rm -rf throw-away &&
+	git -c sideband.allowControlCharacters clone --no-local . throw-away 2>stderr &&
+	test_decode_color <stderr >decoded &&
+	test_grep RED decoded
 '
 
 test_done