diff --git a/doc/overview.xml b/doc/overview.xml
index f7de2968c..dae3c808e 100644
--- a/doc/overview.xml
+++ b/doc/overview.xml
@@ -500,6 +500,9 @@ notify(vm);
         <listitem><para>The <literal>#</literal> character introduces a
         comment that spans until the end of the line.</para>
         </listitem>
+        <listitem><para>The <literal>;</literal> character at the beginning of
+        a line makes the entire line a comment.</para>
+        </listitem>
       </itemizedlist>
 
       <para>The option names are relative to the section names, so
@@ -649,4 +652,4 @@ gui.accessibility.visual_bell=yes
      sgml-parent-document: ("program_options.xml" "section")
      sgml-set-face: t
      End:
--->
\ No newline at end of file
+-->
diff --git a/src/config_file.cpp b/src/config_file.cpp
index f2a57b4b8..89a1ea818 100644
--- a/src/config_file.cpp
+++ b/src/config_file.cpp
@@ -90,6 +90,9 @@ namespace boost { namespace program_options { namespace detail {
             // strip '#' comments and whitespace
             if ((n = s.find('#')) != string::npos)
                 s = s.substr(0, n);
+            // if the first character is a ';' line is a comment
+            if (!s.empty() && ';' == s.at(0))
+                s = "";
             s = trim_ws(s);
 
             if (!s.empty()) {
diff --git a/test/parsers_test.cpp b/test/parsers_test.cpp
index cc1bdd3f2..2c1dbcc84 100644
--- a/test/parsers_test.cpp
+++ b/test/parsers_test.cpp
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ void test_config_file(const char* config_file)
 
     const char content1[] =
     " gv1 = 0#asd\n"
+    "; semi comment\n"
     "empty_value = \n"
     "plug3 = 7\n"
     "b = true\n"