diff --git a/Documentation/config/log.txt b/Documentation/config/log.txt
index 456eb07800..5250ba45fb 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/log.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/log.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ log.decorate::
 	names are shown. This is the same as the `--decorate` option
 	of the `git log`.
 
+log.initialDecorationSet::
+	By default, `git log` only shows decorations for certain known ref
+	namespaces. If 'all' is specified, then show all refs as
+	decorations.
+
 log.excludeDecoration::
 	Exclude the specified patterns from the log decorations. This is
 	similar to the `--decorate-refs-exclude` command-line option, but
diff --git a/Documentation/git-log.txt b/Documentation/git-log.txt
index f2ce16fba7..b1285aee3c 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-log.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-log.txt
@@ -59,7 +59,9 @@ used as decoration if they match `HEAD`, `refs/heads/`, `refs/remotes/`,
 --clear-decorations::
 	When specified, this option clears all previous `--decorate-refs`
 	or `--decorate-refs-exclude` options and relaxes the default
-	decoration filter to include all references.
+	decoration filter to include all references. This option is
+	assumed if the config value `log.initialDecorationSet` is set to
+	`all`.
 
 --source::
 	Print out the ref name given on the command line by which each
diff --git a/builtin/log.c b/builtin/log.c
index 7d35d1ecab..2e2136020e 100644
--- a/builtin/log.c
+++ b/builtin/log.c
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ static void cmd_log_init_defaults(struct rev_info *rev)
 static void set_default_decoration_filter(struct decoration_filter *decoration_filter)
 {
 	int i;
+	char *value = NULL;
 	struct string_list *include = decoration_filter->include_ref_pattern;
 	const struct string_list *config_exclude =
 			git_config_get_value_multi("log.excludeDecoration");
@@ -190,6 +191,17 @@ static void set_default_decoration_filter(struct decoration_filter *decoration_f
 					   item->string);
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * By default, decorate_all is disabled. Enable it if
+	 * log.initialDecorationSet=all. Don't ever disable it by config,
+	 * since the command-line takes precedent.
+	 */
+	if (use_default_decoration_filter &&
+	    !git_config_get_string("log.initialdecorationset", &value) &&
+	    !strcmp("all", value))
+		use_default_decoration_filter = 0;
+	free(value);
+
 	if (!use_default_decoration_filter ||
 	    decoration_filter->exclude_ref_pattern->nr ||
 	    decoration_filter->include_ref_pattern->nr ||
diff --git a/t/t4202-log.sh b/t/t4202-log.sh
index 90800feb0f..4b2d642d34 100755
--- a/t/t4202-log.sh
+++ b/t/t4202-log.sh
@@ -1090,6 +1090,9 @@ test_expect_success '--clear-decorations overrides defaults' '
 	EOF
 	git log --decorate=full --pretty="tformat:%f%d" \
 		--clear-decorations >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect.all actual &&
+	git -c log.initialDecorationSet=all log \
+		--decorate=full --pretty="tformat:%f%d" >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect.all actual
 '