diff --git a/include/light/light.h b/include/light/light.h
index 29e887e7..3354b8bc 100644
--- a/include/light/light.h
+++ b/include/light/light.h
@@ -273,7 +273,8 @@ extern qboolean parse_escape_sequences;
 extern qboolean scaledonly;
 extern unsigned int lightturb;
 extern uint32_t *extended_texinfo_flags;
-
+extern qboolean novis;
+    
 void SetupDirt();
 
 /* Used by fence texture sampling */
diff --git a/light/light.cc b/light/light.cc
index 34318761..ea256507 100644
--- a/light/light.cc
+++ b/light/light.cc
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ int write_luxfile = 0;  /* 0 for none, 1 for .lux, 2 for bspx, 3 for both */
 qboolean onlyents = false;
 qboolean phongDebug = false;
 qboolean parse_escape_sequences = true;
+qboolean novis = false; /* if true, don't use vis data */
 
 uint32_t *extended_texinfo_flags = NULL;
 
@@ -911,6 +912,9 @@ main(int argc, const char **argv)
             phongDebug = true;
             write_litfile |= 1;
             logprint( "Phong shading debug mode enabled\n" );
+        } else if ( !strcmp( argv[ i ], "-novis" ) ) {
+            novis = true;
+            logprint( "Skipping use of vis data to optimize lighting\n" );
         } else if (argv[i][0] == '-')
             Error("Unknown option \"%s\"", argv[i]);
         else
diff --git a/light/ltface.c b/light/ltface.c
index ca713db4..1a4db872 100644
--- a/light/ltface.c
+++ b/light/ltface.c
@@ -1174,6 +1174,7 @@ VisCullEntity(const bsp2_t *bsp, const lightsurf_t *lightsurf, const entity_t *e
 {
     int i;
 
+    if (novis) return false;
     if (lightsurf->pvs == NULL) return false;
     if (entity->leaf == NULL) return false;