diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 294e48b76..2de8fd19e 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ Notes
 -  An Alfred Workflow for howdoi can be found at `http://blog.gleitzman.com/post/48539944559/howdoi-alfred-even-more-instant-answers <http://blog.gleitzman.com/post/48539944559/howdoi-alfred-even-more-instant-answers>`_.
 -  Howdoi uses a cache for faster access to previous questions. Caching functionality can be disabled by setting the HOWDOI_DISABLE_CACHE environment variable. The cache is stored in `~/.cache/howdoi`.
 -  You can set the HOWDOI_URL environment variable to change the source url for answers (default: stackoverflow.com). Other options include `serverfault.com` or `pt.stackoverflow.com`. Here's the `full list <http://stackexchange.com/sites?view=list#traffic>`_.
+-  Setting the HOWDOI_COLORIZE environment variable will colorize the output by default.
 -  Special thanks to Rich Jones (`@miserlou <https://github.com/miserlou>`_) for the idea.
 
 Development
diff --git a/howdoi/howdoi.py b/howdoi/howdoi.py
index 2af1c55ef..f011bbdd1 100755
--- a/howdoi/howdoi.py
+++ b/howdoi/howdoi.py
@@ -250,6 +250,9 @@ def command_line_runner():
     if not os.getenv('HOWDOI_DISABLE_CACHE'):
         enable_cache()
 
+    if os.getenv('HOWDOI_COLORIZE'):
+        args['color'] = True
+
     if sys.version < '3':
         print(howdoi(args).encode('utf-8', 'ignore'))
     else: