diff --git a/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp b/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
index 2f7a9db33..27d37dbf0 100644
--- a/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
+++ b/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
@@ -490,7 +490,16 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::writeSettings()
     // Game settings
     QFile file(userPath + QString("openmw.cfg"));
 
-    if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadWrite | QIODevice::Text)) {
+    QIODevice::OpenMode mode(0);
+    bool keepComments = mLauncherSettings.value(QString("Settings/keep-comments"), QString("true"))
+                        == QLatin1String("true");
+
+    if (keepComments)
+        mode = QIODevice::ReadWrite | QIODevice::Text;
+    else
+        mode = QIODevice::ReadWrite | QIODevice::Text | QIODevice::Truncate;
+
+    if (!file.open(mode)) {
         // File cannot be opened or created
         QMessageBox msgBox;
         msgBox.setWindowTitle(tr("Error writing OpenMW configuration file"));
@@ -503,8 +512,16 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::writeSettings()
                        return false;
     }
 
+    QTextStream stream(&file);
+
+    if (keepComments)
+        mGameSettings.writeFileWithComments(file);
+    else
+    {
+        stream.setCodec(QTextCodec::codecForName("UTF-8"));
+        mGameSettings.writeFile(stream);
+    }
 
-    mGameSettings.writeFileWithComments(file);
     file.close();
 
     // Graphics settings
@@ -523,7 +540,6 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::writeSettings()
                        return false;
     }
 
-    QTextStream stream(&file);
     stream.setDevice(&file);
     stream.setCodec(QTextCodec::codecForName("UTF-8"));
 
diff --git a/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp b/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp
index 843b51391..bc8ffe618 100644
--- a/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp
+++ b/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp
@@ -260,6 +260,10 @@ void Launcher::SettingsPage::saveSettings()
     }  else {
         mGameSettings.setValue(QLatin1String("encoding"), QLatin1String("win1252"));
     }
+
+    QString keepComments(saveCommentsCheckBox->isChecked() ? "true" : "false");
+
+    mLauncherSettings.setValue(QLatin1String("Settings/keep-comments"), keepComments);
 }
 
 bool Launcher::SettingsPage::loadSettings()
@@ -271,5 +275,9 @@ bool Launcher::SettingsPage::loadSettings()
     if (index != -1)
         languageComboBox->setCurrentIndex(index);
 
+    QString keepComments(mLauncherSettings.value(QLatin1String("Settings/keep-comments")));
+
+    saveCommentsCheckBox->setChecked(keepComments == "true");
+
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/files/ui/settingspage.ui b/files/ui/settingspage.ui
index 7f5e4a7de..f38ba764c 100644
--- a/files/ui/settingspage.ui
+++ b/files/ui/settingspage.ui
@@ -40,6 +40,16 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
+      <item row="1" column="0">
+       <widget class="QCheckBox" name="saveCommentsCheckBox">
+        <property name="text">
+         <string>Keep comments in openmw.cfg</string>
+        </property>
+        <property name="checked">
+         <bool>false</bool>
+        </property>
+       </widget>
+      </item>
      </layout>
     </widget>
    </item>