diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 098ed367..db279914 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 * **pipe-selected** key binding. Works like **pipe-visible** and
   **pipe-scrollback**, but only pipes the currently selected text, if
   any (https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot/issues/51).
-* **cursor.hide-when-typing** option to `footrc.
+* **cursor.hide-when-typing** option to `footrc`.
+* **cursor.indicate-when-selecting** option to `footrc`.
 
 
 ### Deprecated
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 26d2d1a0..b31f0959 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -520,6 +520,9 @@ parse_section_cursor(const char *key, const char *value, struct config *conf,
     else if (strcmp(key, "hide-when-typing") == 0)
         conf->cursor.hide_when_typing = str_to_bool(value);
 
+    else if (strcmp(key, "indicate-when-selecting") == 0)
+        conf->cursor.indicate_when_selecting = str_to_bool(value);
+
     else if (strcmp(key, "color") == 0) {
         char *value_copy = strdup(value);
         const char *text = strtok(value_copy, " ");
@@ -1249,6 +1252,7 @@ config_load(struct config *conf, const char *conf_path, bool errors_are_fatal)
             .style = CURSOR_BLOCK,
             .blink = false,
             .hide_when_typing = false,
+            .indicate_when_selecting = true,
             .color = {
                 .text = 0,
                 .cursor = 0,
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index baee177d..ceeff554 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ struct config {
         enum cursor_style style;
         bool blink;
         bool hide_when_typing;
+        bool indicate_when_selecting;
         struct {
             uint32_t text;
             uint32_t cursor;
diff --git a/doc/footrc.5.scd b/doc/footrc.5.scd
index 8fbe7bd6..2d73ea1b 100644
--- a/doc/footrc.5.scd
+++ b/doc/footrc.5.scd
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ applications can change these at runtime.
 *hide-when-typing*
 	Boolean. When enabled, the mouse cursor is hidden while typing.
 
+*indicate-when-selecting*
+	Boolean. When enabled, the mouse cursor changes form to indicate
+	when the Shift key is held (for text selections).
+
 *color*
 	Two RRGGBB values specifying the foreground (text) and background
 	(cursor) colors for the cursor. Default: inversed foreground and
diff --git a/footrc b/footrc
index 5bc6f24a..3d84fa0a 100644
--- a/footrc
+++ b/footrc
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 # color=111111 dcdccc
 # blink=no
 # hide-when-typing=no
+# indicate-when-selecting=yes
 
 [colors]
 # alpha=1.0
diff --git a/terminal.c b/terminal.c
index ae4f3ee5..fd286007 100644
--- a/terminal.c
+++ b/terminal.c
@@ -2213,7 +2213,7 @@ term_xcursor_update_for_seat(struct terminal *term, struct seat *seat)
     const char *xcursor
         = seat->pointer.hidden ? XCURSOR_HIDDEN
         : term->is_searching ? XCURSOR_LEFT_PTR
-        : selection_enabled(term, seat) ? XCURSOR_TEXT
+        : (selection_enabled(term, seat) && term->conf->cursor.indicate_when_selecting) ? XCURSOR_TEXT
         : XCURSOR_LEFT_PTR;
 
     render_xcursor_set(seat, term, xcursor);