diff --git a/src/Composer/Autoload/AutoloadGenerator.php b/src/Composer/Autoload/AutoloadGenerator.php
index 5991083f7..bac2c9852 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Autoload/AutoloadGenerator.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Autoload/AutoloadGenerator.php
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ class AutoloadGenerator
         $filesystem = new Filesystem();
         $filesystem->ensureDirectoryExists($config->get('vendor-dir'));
         $vendorPath = strtr(realpath($config->get('vendor-dir')), '\\', '/');
+        $useGlobalIncludePath = (bool) $config->get('use-include-path');
         $targetDir = $vendorPath.'/'.$targetDir;
         $filesystem->ensureDirectoryExists($targetDir);
 
@@ -171,7 +172,7 @@ EOF;
             file_put_contents($targetDir.'/include_paths.php', $includePathFile);
         }
         file_put_contents($vendorPath.'/autoload.php', $this->getAutoloadFile($vendorPathToTargetDirCode, $suffix));
-        file_put_contents($targetDir.'/autoload_real.php', $this->getAutoloadRealFile(true, true, (bool) $includePathFile, $targetDirLoader, $filesCode, $vendorPathCode, $appBaseDirCode, $suffix));
+        file_put_contents($targetDir.'/autoload_real.php', $this->getAutoloadRealFile(true, true, (bool) $includePathFile, $targetDirLoader, $filesCode, $vendorPathCode, $appBaseDirCode, $suffix, $useGlobalIncludePath));
         copy(__DIR__.'/ClassLoader.php', $targetDir.'/ClassLoader.php');
     }
 
@@ -326,7 +327,7 @@ return ComposerAutoloaderInit$suffix::getLoader();
 AUTOLOAD;
     }
 
-    protected function getAutoloadRealFile($usePSR0, $useClassMap, $useIncludePath, $targetDirLoader, $filesCode, $vendorPathCode, $appBaseDirCode, $suffix)
+    protected function getAutoloadRealFile($usePSR0, $useClassMap, $useIncludePath, $targetDirLoader, $filesCode, $vendorPathCode, $appBaseDirCode, $suffix, $useGlobalIncludePath)
     {
         // TODO the class ComposerAutoloaderInit should be revert to a closure
         // when APC has been fixed:
@@ -403,6 +404,13 @@ PSR0;
 CLASSMAP;
         }
 
+        if ($useGlobalIncludePath) {
+            $file .= <<<'INCLUDEPATH'
+        $loader->setUseIncludePath(true);
+
+INCLUDEPATH;
+        }
+
         if ($targetDirLoader) {
             $file .= <<<REGISTER_AUTOLOAD
         spl_autoload_register(array('ComposerAutoloaderInit$suffix', 'autoload'), true, true);
diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/ConfigCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/ConfigCommand.php
index 68dde8589..79dc7e319 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Command/ConfigCommand.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/ConfigCommand.php
@@ -259,6 +259,10 @@ EOT
                 function ($val) { return true; },
                 function ($val) { return $val !== 'false' && (bool) $val; }
             ),
+            'use-include-path' => array(
+                function ($val) { return false; },
+                function ($val) { return $val !== 'false' && (bool) $val; }
+            ),
         );
         $multiConfigValues = array(
             'github-protocols' => array(
diff --git a/src/Composer/Config.php b/src/Composer/Config.php
index f4207fa5a..43aaec078 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Config.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Config.php
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ class Config
         'cache-files-dir' => '{$cache-dir}/files',
         'cache-repo-dir' => '{$cache-dir}/repo',
         'cache-vcs-dir' => '{$cache-dir}/vcs',
+        'use-include-path' => false,
     );
 
     public static $defaultRepositories = array(
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Autoload/AutoloadGeneratorTest.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Autoload/AutoloadGeneratorTest.php
index 9693d8826..233b399af 100644
--- a/tests/Composer/Test/Autoload/AutoloadGeneratorTest.php
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Autoload/AutoloadGeneratorTest.php
@@ -40,7 +40,15 @@ class AutoloadGeneratorTest extends TestCase
         $this->ensureDirectoryExistsAndClear($this->vendorDir);
 
         $this->config = $this->getMock('Composer\Config');
-        $this->config->expects($this->any())
+
+        $this->config->expects($this->at(0))
+            ->method('get')
+            ->with($this->equalTo('vendor-dir'))
+            ->will($this->returnCallback(function () use ($that) {
+                return $that->vendorDir;
+            }));
+
+        $this->config->expects($this->at(1))
             ->method('get')
             ->with($this->equalTo('vendor-dir'))
             ->will($this->returnCallback(function () use ($that) {
@@ -570,6 +578,30 @@ EOF;
 
         $this->assertFalse(file_exists($this->vendorDir."/composer/include_paths.php"));
     }
+	
+	
+	public function testUseGlobalIncludePath()
+    {
+        $package = new Package('a', '1.0', '1.0');
+        $package->setAutoload(array(
+            'psr-0' => array('Main\\Foo' => '', 'Main\\Bar' => ''),
+        ));
+        $package->setTargetDir('Main/Foo/');
+
+        $this->repository->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('getPackages')
+            ->will($this->returnValue(array()));
+			
+		$this->config->expects($this->at(2))
+            ->method('get')
+            ->with($this->equalTo('use-include-path'))
+            ->will($this->returnValue(true));
+
+        $this->fs->ensureDirectoryExists($this->vendorDir.'/a');
+
+        $this->generator->dump($this->config, $this->repository, $package, $this->im, 'composer', false, 'IncludePath');
+        $this->assertFileEquals(__DIR__.'/Fixtures/autoload_real_include_path.php', $this->vendorDir.'/composer/autoload_real.php');
+    }
 
     private function createClassFile($basedir)
     {
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Autoload/Fixtures/autoload_real_include_path.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Autoload/Fixtures/autoload_real_include_path.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a410ff688
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Autoload/Fixtures/autoload_real_include_path.php
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+<?php
+
+// autoload_real.php generated by Composer
+
+class ComposerAutoloaderInitIncludePath
+{
+    private static $loader;
+
+    public static function loadClassLoader($class)
+    {
+        if ('Composer\Autoload\ClassLoader' === $class) {
+            require __DIR__ . '/ClassLoader.php';
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static function getLoader()
+    {
+        if (null !== self::$loader) {
+            return self::$loader;
+        }
+
+        spl_autoload_register(array('ComposerAutoloaderInitIncludePath', 'loadClassLoader'));
+        self::$loader = $loader = new \Composer\Autoload\ClassLoader();
+        spl_autoload_unregister(array('ComposerAutoloaderInitIncludePath', 'loadClassLoader'));
+
+        $vendorDir = dirname(__DIR__);
+        $baseDir = dirname($vendorDir);
+
+        $map = require __DIR__ . '/autoload_namespaces.php';
+        foreach ($map as $namespace => $path) {
+            $loader->add($namespace, $path);
+        }
+
+        $classMap = require __DIR__ . '/autoload_classmap.php';
+        if ($classMap) {
+            $loader->addClassMap($classMap);
+        }
+
+        $loader->setUseIncludePath(true);
+        spl_autoload_register(array('ComposerAutoloaderInitIncludePath', 'autoload'), true, true);
+
+        $loader->register(true);
+
+        return $loader;
+    }
+
+    public static function autoload($class)
+    {
+        $dir = dirname(dirname(__DIR__)) . '/';
+        $prefixes = array('Main\\Foo', 'Main\\Bar');
+        foreach ($prefixes as $prefix) {
+            if (0 !== strpos($class, $prefix)) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            $path = $dir . implode('/', array_slice(explode('\\', $class), 2)).'.php';
+            if (!$path = stream_resolve_include_path($path)) {
+                return false;
+            }
+            require $path;
+
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+}