diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index afc6a5009..a5874e937 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -196,6 +196,8 @@
 - Removed unused tips files (thanks to dev-zero).
 - Removed shadow file feature, replacing it with an example hook scripts that
   performs the same function.
+- Added rc.hooks, a master control setting for hooks processing, which defaults
+  to 'on'.
 
 ------ current release ---------------------------
 
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 8b966aa1a..14ee8f839 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ New Features in taskwarrior 2.4.0
     the urgency values of the dependency chain.
   - Listing breaks now supported.  See 'man taskrc'.
   - New fish shell completion script.
+  - Hooks.
 
 New commands in taskwarrior 2.4.0
 
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ New configuration options in taskwarrior 2.4.0
     potentially dangerous combination of write commands and empty filters.
   - New truncated_count column style for the description field which as the
     name says is a combination of the existing truncated and count styles.
+  - New 'hooks' setting is a master control switch for hook processing.
 
 Newly deprecated features in taskwarrior 2.4.0
 
diff --git a/doc/man/taskrc.5.in b/doc/man/taskrc.5.in
index 1375eb101..eb3bdd4f4 100644
--- a/doc/man/taskrc.5.in
+++ b/doc/man/taskrc.5.in
@@ -182,6 +182,11 @@ don't change.  Note that this should be used in the form of a command line
 override (task rc.gc=off ...), and not permanently used in the .taskrc file,
 as this significantly affects performance in the long term.
 
+.TP
+.B hooks=on
+This master control switch enables hook script processing. The default value
+is 'on', but certain extensions and environments may need to disable hooks.
+
 .TP
 .B exit.on.missing.db=no
 When set to 'yes' causes the program to exit if the database (~/.task or
diff --git a/src/Config.cpp b/src/Config.cpp
index 3bbdb057f..ee977b933 100644
--- a/src/Config.cpp
+++ b/src/Config.cpp
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ std::string Config::_defaults =
   "locking=on                                     # Use file-level locking\n"
   "gc=on                                          # Garbage-collect data files - DO NOT CHANGE unless you are sure\n"
   "exit.on.missing.db=no                          # Whether to exit if ~/.task is not found\n"
+  "hooks=on                                       # Master control switch for hooks\n"
   "\n"
   "# Terminal\n"
   "detection=on                                   # Detects terminal width\n"
diff --git a/src/Hooks.cpp b/src/Hooks.cpp
index d3b10216b..d3f2e08cb 100644
--- a/src/Hooks.cpp
+++ b/src/Hooks.cpp
@@ -55,14 +55,17 @@ Hooks::~Hooks ()
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 void Hooks::initialize ()
 {
-  // Scan <rc.data.location>/hooks
-  Directory d (context.config.get ("data.location"));
-  d += "hooks";
-  if (d.is_directory () &&
-      d.readable ())
+  if (context.config.getBoolean ("hooks"))
   {
-    _scripts = d.list ();
-    std::sort (_scripts.begin (), _scripts.end ());
+    // Scan <rc.data.location>/hooks
+    Directory d (context.config.get ("data.location"));
+    d += "hooks";
+    if (d.is_directory () &&
+        d.readable ())
+    {
+      _scripts = d.list ();
+      std::sort (_scripts.begin (), _scripts.end ());
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/commands/CmdShow.cpp b/src/commands/CmdShow.cpp
index 901a2a576..552aaf70e 100644
--- a/src/commands/CmdShow.cpp
+++ b/src/commands/CmdShow.cpp
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ int CmdShow::execute (std::string& output)
     " extensions"
     " fontunderline"
     " gc"
+    " hooks"
     " hyphenate"
     " indent.annotation"
     " indent.report"