diff --git a/options-table.c b/options-table.c
index 8e8b8b5d..8a611460 100644
--- a/options-table.c
+++ b/options-table.c
@@ -75,6 +75,11 @@ const struct options_table_entry server_options_table[] = {
 	  .default_num = 0 /* overridden in main() */
 	},
 
+	{ .name = "set-clipboard",
+	  .type = OPTIONS_TABLE_FLAG,
+	  .default_num = 1
+	},
+
 	{ .name = NULL }
 };
 
@@ -360,7 +365,8 @@ const struct options_table_entry session_options_table[] = {
 
 	{ .name = "terminal-overrides",
 	  .type = OPTIONS_TABLE_STRING,
-	  .default_str = "*88col*:colors=88,*256col*:colors=256,xterm*:XT"
+	  .default_str = "*88col*:colors=88,*256col*:colors=256"
+	  		 ",xterm*:XT:Ms=\\E]52;%p1%s;%p2%s\\007"
 	},
 
 	{ .name = "update-environment",
diff --git a/screen-write.c b/screen-write.c
index 1fee190d..60623701 100644
--- a/screen-write.c
+++ b/screen-write.c
@@ -1194,6 +1194,18 @@ screen_write_overwrite(struct screen_write_ctx *ctx, u_int width)
 	}
 }
 
+void
+screen_write_setselection(struct screen_write_ctx *ctx, u_char *str, u_int len)
+{
+	struct tty_ctx	ttyctx;
+
+	screen_write_initctx(ctx, &ttyctx, 0);
+	ttyctx.ptr = str;
+	ttyctx.num = len;
+
+	tty_write(tty_cmd_setselection, &ttyctx);
+}
+
 void
 screen_write_rawstring(struct screen_write_ctx *ctx, u_char *str, u_int len)
 {
diff --git a/tmux.1 b/tmux.1
index 4b0083a0..c6a286a8 100644
--- a/tmux.1
+++ b/tmux.1
@@ -1705,6 +1705,28 @@ Available server options are:
 Set the number of buffers; as new buffers are added to the top of the stack,
 old ones are removed from the bottom if necessary to maintain this maximum
 length.
+.It Xo Ic set-clipboard
+.Op Ic on | off
+.Xc
+Attempt to set the terminal clipboard content using the
+\ee]52;...\e007
+.Xr xterm 1
+escape sequences.
+This option is on by default if there is an
+.Em \&Ms
+entry in the
+.Xr terminfo 5
+description for the client terminal.
+Note that this feature needs to be enabled in
+.Xr xterm 1
+by setting the resource:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+disallowedWindowOps: 20,21,SetXprop
+.Ed
+.Pp
+Or changing this property from the
+.Xr xterm 1
+interactive menu when required.
 .It Ic escape-time Ar time
 Set the time in milliseconds for which
 .Nm
@@ -2796,6 +2818,21 @@ If the command doesn't return success, the exit status is also displayed.
 .D1 (alias: Ic info )
 Show server information and terminal details.
 .El
+.Sh TERMINFO EXTENSIONS
+.Nm
+understands some extensions to
+.Xr terminfo 5 :
+.Bl -tag -width Ds
+.It Em \&Ms
+This sequence can be used by
+.Nm
+to store the current buffer in the host terminal's selection (clipboard).
+See the
+.Em set-clipboard
+option above and the
+.Xr xterm 1
+man page.
+.El
 .Sh FILES
 .Bl -tag -width "/etc/tmux.confXXX" -compact
 .It Pa ~/.tmux.conf
diff --git a/tmux.h b/tmux.h
index c7875df7..3056ac94 100644
--- a/tmux.h
+++ b/tmux.h
@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@ enum tty_code_code {
 	TTYC_KUP5,
 	TTYC_KUP6,
 	TTYC_KUP7,
+	TTYC_MS,	/* modify xterm(1) selection */
 	TTYC_OP,	/* orig_pair, op */
 	TTYC_REV,	/* enter_reverse_mode, mr */
 	TTYC_RI,	/* scroll_reverse, sr */
@@ -1413,6 +1414,7 @@ void	tty_cursor(struct tty *, u_int, u_int);
 void	tty_putcode(struct tty *, enum tty_code_code);
 void	tty_putcode1(struct tty *, enum tty_code_code, int);
 void	tty_putcode2(struct tty *, enum tty_code_code, int, int);
+void	tty_putcode_ptr2(struct tty *, enum tty_code_code, const void *, const void *);
 void	tty_puts(struct tty *, const char *);
 void	tty_putc(struct tty *, u_char);
 void	tty_pututf8(struct tty *, const struct grid_utf8 *);
@@ -1444,6 +1446,7 @@ void	tty_cmd_insertline(struct tty *, const struct tty_ctx *);
 void	tty_cmd_linefeed(struct tty *, const struct tty_ctx *);
 void	tty_cmd_utf8character(struct tty *, const struct tty_ctx *);
 void	tty_cmd_reverseindex(struct tty *, const struct tty_ctx *);
+void	tty_cmd_setselection(struct tty *, const struct tty_ctx *);
 void	tty_cmd_rawstring(struct tty *, const struct tty_ctx *);
 
 /* tty-term.c */
@@ -1456,6 +1459,8 @@ const char	*tty_term_string(struct tty_term *, enum tty_code_code);
 const char	*tty_term_string1(struct tty_term *, enum tty_code_code, int);
 const char	*tty_term_string2(
 		     struct tty_term *, enum tty_code_code, int, int);
+const char	*tty_term_ptr2(
+		     struct tty_term *, enum tty_code_code, const void *, const void *);
 int		 tty_term_number(struct tty_term *, enum tty_code_code);
 int		 tty_term_flag(struct tty_term *, enum tty_code_code);
 
@@ -1824,6 +1829,7 @@ void	 screen_write_clearstartofscreen(struct screen_write_ctx *);
 void	 screen_write_clearscreen(struct screen_write_ctx *);
 void	 screen_write_cell(struct screen_write_ctx *,
 	     const struct grid_cell *, const struct utf8_data *);
+void	 screen_write_setselection(struct screen_write_ctx *, u_char *, u_int);
 void	 screen_write_rawstring(struct screen_write_ctx *, u_char *, u_int);
 
 /* screen-redraw.c */
diff --git a/tty-term.c b/tty-term.c
index f1e6d878..7ad4628f 100644
--- a/tty-term.c
+++ b/tty-term.c
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ const struct tty_term_code_entry tty_term_codes[NTTYCODE] = {
 	{ TTYC_KUP5, TTYCODE_STRING, "kUP5" },
 	{ TTYC_KUP6, TTYCODE_STRING, "kUP6" },
 	{ TTYC_KUP7, TTYCODE_STRING, "kUP7" },
+	{ TTYC_MS, TTYCODE_STRING, "Ms" },
 	{ TTYC_OP, TTYCODE_STRING, "op" },
 	{ TTYC_REV, TTYCODE_STRING, "rev" },
 	{ TTYC_RI, TTYCODE_STRING, "ri" },
@@ -492,6 +493,12 @@ tty_term_string2(struct tty_term *term, enum tty_code_code code, int a, int b)
 	return (tparm((char *) tty_term_string(term, code), a, b));
 }
 
+const char *
+tty_term_ptr2(struct tty_term *term, enum tty_code_code code, const void *a, const void *b)
+{
+	return (tparm((char *) tty_term_string(term, code), a, b));
+}
+
 int
 tty_term_number(struct tty_term *term, enum tty_code_code code)
 {
diff --git a/tty.c b/tty.c
index b423f6d8..04503b60 100644
--- a/tty.c
+++ b/tty.c
@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
 
+#include <netinet/in.h>
+
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
+#include <resolv.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <termios.h>
@@ -311,6 +314,13 @@ tty_putcode2(struct tty *tty, enum tty_code_code code, int a, int b)
 	tty_puts(tty, tty_term_string2(tty->term, code, a, b));
 }
 
+void
+tty_putcode_ptr2(struct tty *tty, enum tty_code_code code, const void *a, const void *b)
+{
+	if (a != NULL && b != NULL)
+		tty_puts(tty, tty_term_ptr2(tty->term, code, a, b));
+}
+
 void
 tty_puts(struct tty *tty, const char *s)
 {
@@ -938,6 +948,24 @@ tty_cmd_utf8character(struct tty *tty, const struct tty_ctx *ctx)
 	tty_draw_line(tty, wp->screen, ctx->ocy, wp->xoff, wp->yoff);
 }
 
+void
+tty_cmd_setselection(struct tty *tty, const struct tty_ctx *ctx)
+{
+	char	*buf;
+	size_t	 off;
+
+	if (!tty_term_has(tty->term, TTYC_MS))
+		return;
+
+	off = 4 * ((ctx->num + 2) / 3) + 1; /* storage for base64 */
+	buf = xmalloc(off);
+
+	b64_ntop(ctx->ptr, ctx->num, buf, off);
+	tty_putcode_ptr2(tty, TTYC_MS, "", buf);
+
+	xfree(buf);
+}
+
 void
 tty_cmd_rawstring(struct tty *tty, const struct tty_ctx *ctx)
 {
diff --git a/window-copy.c b/window-copy.c
index 4ee3c3e3..1c060dc0 100644
--- a/window-copy.c
+++ b/window-copy.c
@@ -1345,6 +1345,9 @@ window_copy_copy_selection(struct window_pane *wp)
 	}
 	off--;	/* remove final \n */
 
+	if (options_get_number(&global_options, "set-clipboard"))
+		screen_write_setselection(&wp->ictx.ctx, buf, off);
+
 	/* Add the buffer to the stack. */
 	limit = options_get_number(&global_options, "buffer-limit");
 	paste_add(&global_buffers, buf, off, limit);