diff --git a/doc/04-schema.md b/doc/04-schema.md
index 6ff3baccb..96641e8fe 100644
--- a/doc/04-schema.md
+++ b/doc/04-schema.md
@@ -712,6 +712,8 @@ The following options are supported:
   interoperability issues with other autoloaders.
 * **autoloader-suffix:** Defaults to `null`. String to be used as a suffix for
   the generated Composer autoloader. When null a random one will be generated.
+* **optimize-autoloader** Defaults to `false`. Always optimize when dumping
+  the autoloader.
 * **github-domains:** Defaults to `["github.com"]`. A list of domains to use in
   github mode. This is used for GitHub Enterprise setups.
 * **notify-on-install:** Defaults to `true`. Composer allows repositories to
diff --git a/res/composer-schema.json b/res/composer-schema.json
index 962398447..905199247 100644
--- a/res/composer-schema.json
+++ b/res/composer-schema.json
@@ -180,6 +180,10 @@
                     "type": "string",
                     "description": "Optional string to be used as a suffix for the generated Composer autoloader. When null a random one will be generated."
                 },
+                "optimize-autoloader": {
+                    "type": "boolean",
+                    "description": "Always optimize when dumping the autoloader"
+                },
                 "prepend-autoloader": {
                     "type": "boolean",
                     "description": "If false, the composer autoloader will not be prepended to existing autoloaders, defaults to true."
diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/ConfigCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/ConfigCommand.php
index 89aa072ba..bcd3beeab 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Command/ConfigCommand.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/ConfigCommand.php
@@ -283,6 +283,7 @@ EOT
                 }
             ),
             'autoloader-suffix' => array('is_string', function ($val) { return $val === 'null' ? null : $val; }),
+            'optimize-autoloader' => array($booleanValidator, $booleanNormalizer),
             'prepend-autoloader' => array($booleanValidator, $booleanNormalizer),
         );
         $multiConfigValues = array(
diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/DumpAutoloadCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/DumpAutoloadCommand.php
index 23ba53167..d228fb150 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Command/DumpAutoloadCommand.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/DumpAutoloadCommand.php
@@ -41,12 +41,6 @@ EOT
 
     protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
     {
-        if ($input->getOption('optimize')) {
-            $output->writeln('<info>Generating optimized autoload files</info>');
-        } else {
-            $output->writeln('<info>Generating autoload files</info>');
-        }
-
         $composer = $this->getComposer();
 
         $commandEvent = new CommandEvent(PluginEvents::COMMAND, 'dump-autoload', $input, $output);
@@ -57,6 +51,14 @@ EOT
         $package = $composer->getPackage();
         $config = $composer->getConfig();
 
-        $composer->getAutoloadGenerator()->dump($config, $localRepo, $package, $installationManager, 'composer', $input->getOption('optimize'));
+        $optimize = $input->getOption('optimize') || $config->get('optimize-autoloader');
+
+        if ($optimize) {
+            $output->writeln('<info>Generating optimized autoload files</info>');
+        } else {
+            $output->writeln('<info>Generating autoload files</info>');
+        }
+
+        $composer->getAutoloadGenerator()->dump($config, $localRepo, $package, $installationManager, 'composer', $optimize);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/InstallCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/InstallCommand.php
index a163d5ad5..955607c85 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Command/InstallCommand.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/InstallCommand.php
@@ -76,7 +76,10 @@ EOT
 
         $preferSource = false;
         $preferDist = false;
-        switch ($composer->getConfig()->get('preferred-install')) {
+
+        $config = $composer->getConfig();
+
+        switch ($config->get('preferred-install')) {
             case 'source':
                 $preferSource = true;
                 break;
@@ -93,6 +96,8 @@ EOT
             $preferDist = $input->getOption('prefer-dist');
         }
 
+        $optimize = $input->getOption('optimize-autoloader') || $config->get('optimize-autoloader');
+
         $install
             ->setDryRun($input->getOption('dry-run'))
             ->setVerbose($input->getOption('verbose'))
@@ -100,7 +105,7 @@ EOT
             ->setPreferDist($preferDist)
             ->setDevMode(!$input->getOption('no-dev'))
             ->setRunScripts(!$input->getOption('no-scripts'))
-            ->setOptimizeAutoloader($input->getOption('optimize-autoloader'))
+            ->setOptimizeAutoloader($optimize)
         ;
 
         if ($input->getOption('no-plugins')) {
diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/UpdateCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/UpdateCommand.php
index 7a1471a65..c3c90b94d 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Command/UpdateCommand.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/UpdateCommand.php
@@ -81,7 +81,10 @@ EOT
 
         $preferSource = false;
         $preferDist = false;
-        switch ($composer->getConfig()->get('preferred-install')) {
+
+        $config = $composer->getConfig();
+
+        switch ($config->get('preferred-install')) {
             case 'source':
                 $preferSource = true;
                 break;
@@ -98,6 +101,8 @@ EOT
             $preferDist = $input->getOption('prefer-dist');
         }
 
+        $optimize = $input->getOption('optimize-autoloader') || $config->get('optimize-autoloader');
+
         $install
             ->setDryRun($input->getOption('dry-run'))
             ->setVerbose($input->getOption('verbose'))
@@ -105,7 +110,7 @@ EOT
             ->setPreferDist($preferDist)
             ->setDevMode(!$input->getOption('no-dev'))
             ->setRunScripts(!$input->getOption('no-scripts'))
-            ->setOptimizeAutoloader($input->getOption('optimize-autoloader'))
+            ->setOptimizeAutoloader($optimize)
             ->setUpdate(true)
             ->setUpdateWhitelist($input->getOption('lock') ? array('lock') : $input->getArgument('packages'))
             ->setWhitelistDependencies($input->getOption('with-dependencies'))
diff --git a/src/Composer/Config.php b/src/Composer/Config.php
index c54bc498c..087949ef8 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Config.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Config.php
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class Config
         'cache-files-maxsize' => '300MiB',
         'discard-changes' => false,
         'autoloader-suffix' => null,
+        'optimize-autoloader' => false,
         'prepend-autoloader' => true,
         'github-domains' => array('github.com'),
     );
diff --git a/src/Composer/Installer.php b/src/Composer/Installer.php
index 900c14b6b..e1dbd496f 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Installer.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Installer.php
@@ -279,7 +279,12 @@ class Installer
             }
 
             // write autoloader
-            $this->io->write('<info>Generating autoload files</info>');
+            if ($this->optimizeAutoloader) {
+                $this->io->write('<info>Generating optimized autoload files</info>');
+            } else {
+                $this->io->write('<info>Generating autoload files</info>');
+            }
+
             $this->autoloadGenerator->dump($this->config, $localRepo, $this->package, $this->installationManager, 'composer', $this->optimizeAutoloader);
 
             if ($this->runScripts) {