diff --git a/REFERENCE.md b/REFERENCE.md
index 949fdfdc..32bd5ce6 100644
--- a/REFERENCE.md
+++ b/REFERENCE.md
@@ -160,6 +160,13 @@ Available options are:
   Defaults to `true` in Rails production mode, and `false`
   everywhere else.
 
+{#remove_whitespace-option} `:remove_whitespace`
+: If set to `true`, all tags are treated as if
+  both [whitespace removal](#whitespace_removal__and_)
+  options were present. Use with caution as this
+  may cause whitespace-related formatting errors.
+  Defaults to `false`.
+
 {#suppress_eval-option} `:suppress_eval`
 : Whether or not attribute hashes and Ruby scripts
   designated by `=` or `~` should be
diff --git a/lib/haml/options.rb b/lib/haml/options.rb
index ee07b6f4..74ce1fdb 100644
--- a/lib/haml/options.rb
+++ b/lib/haml/options.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ module Haml
       :line                 => 1,
       :mime_type            => nil,
       :preserve             => %w(textarea pre code),
+      :remove_whitespace    => false,
       :suppress_eval        => false,
       :ugly                 => false
     }
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ module Haml
     attr_reader :encoding
     attr_reader :format
     attr_reader :mime_type
+    attr_reader :remove_whitespace
 
 
     def initialize(values = {}, &block)
@@ -64,7 +66,8 @@ module Haml
       send "#{key}=", value
     end
 
-    [:escape_attrs, :hyphenate_data_attrs, :suppress_eval, :ugly].each do |method|
+    [:escape_attrs, :hyphenate_data_attrs, :remove_whitespace, :suppress_eval, 
+      :ugly].each do |method|
       class_eval(<<-END)
         def #{method}?
           !! @#{method}
@@ -106,6 +109,11 @@ module Haml
       end
       @format = value
     end
+    
+    def remove_whitespace=(value)
+      @ugly = true if value
+      @remove_whitespace = value
+    end
 
     if RUBY_VERSION < "1.9"
       attr_writer :encoding
diff --git a/lib/haml/parser.rb b/lib/haml/parser.rb
index d67950cb..788e4052 100644
--- a/lib/haml/parser.rb
+++ b/lib/haml/parser.rb
@@ -505,6 +505,11 @@ END
         nuke_inner_whitespace = nuke_whitespace.include? '<'
       end
 
+      if @options[:remove_whitespace]
+        nuke_outer_whitespace = true
+        nuke_inner_whitespace = true
+      end
+
       value = value.to_s.strip
       [tag_name, attributes, attributes_hashes, object_ref, nuke_outer_whitespace,
        nuke_inner_whitespace, action, value, last_line || @index]
diff --git a/test/engine_test.rb b/test/engine_test.rb
index 06c294cc..b977262f 100644
--- a/test/engine_test.rb
+++ b/test/engine_test.rb
@@ -1331,6 +1331,20 @@ HAML
                  render("%p= 's' * 75", :ugly => true))
   end
 
+  def test_remove_whitespace_true
+    assert_equal("<div id='outer'><div id='inner'><p>hello world</p></div></div>",
+                 render("#outer\n  #inner\n    %p hello world", :remove_whitespace => true))
+    assert_equal("<p>hello world<pre>foo   bar\nbaz</pre></p>", render(<<HAML, :remove_whitespace => true))
+%p
+  hello world
+  %pre
+    foo   bar
+    baz
+HAML
+    assert_equal("<div><span>foo</span> <span>bar</span></div>",
+                 render('%div <span>foo</span> <span>bar</span>', :remove_whitespace => true))
+  end
+
   def test_auto_preserve_unless_ugly
     assert_equal("<pre>foo&#x000A;bar</pre>\n", render('%pre="foo\nbar"'))
     assert_equal("<pre>foo\nbar</pre>\n", render("%pre\n  foo\n  bar"))