diff --git a/docs/api.md b/docs/api.md
index 540f1e24..52ee10f3 100644
--- a/docs/api.md
+++ b/docs/api.md
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ This will reduce memory usage and can improve performance on some systems.
 
 Do not process input images where the number of pixels (width * height) exceeds this limit.
 
-`pixels` is the integral Number of pixels, with a value between 1 and the default 268402689 (0x3FFF * 0x3FFF).
+`pixels` is either an integral Number of pixels, with a value between 1 and the default 268402689 (0x3FFF * 0x3FFF) or
+ a boolean. `false` will disable checking while `true` will revert to the default limit.
 
 ### Resizing
 
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 8becf8d3..6972bd42 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -722,10 +722,17 @@ Sharp.prototype.resize = function(width, height) {
 
 /*
   Limit the total number of pixels for input images
-  Assumes the image dimensions contained in the file header can be trusted
+  Assumes the image dimensions contained in the file header can be trusted.
+  Alternatively can use boolean to disable or reset to default (maximum pixels)
 */
 Sharp.prototype.limitInputPixels = function(limit) {
-  if (typeof limit === 'number' && !Number.isNaN(limit) && limit % 1 === 0 && limit > 0) {
+  //if we pass in false we represent the integer as 0 to disable
+  if(limit === false) {
+    limit = 0;
+  } else if(limit === true) {
+    limit = maximum.pixels;
+  }
+  if (typeof limit === 'number' && !Number.isNaN(limit) && limit % 1 === 0 && limit >= 0) {
     this.options.limitInputPixels = limit;
   } else {
     throw new Error('Invalid pixel limit (1 to ' + maximum.pixels + ') ' + limit);
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index aa6a96e8..961761cf 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -19,13 +19,14 @@
     "Bernhard K. Weisshuhn <bkw@codingforce.com>",
     "Chris Riley <criley@primedia.com>",
     "David Carley <dacarley@gmail.com>",
-    "John Tobin <john@limelightmobileinc.com>"
+    "John Tobin <john@limelightmobileinc.com>",
+    "Kenton Gray <kentongray@gmail.com>"
   ],
   "description": "High performance Node.js module to resize JPEG, PNG, WebP and TIFF images using the libvips library",
   "scripts": {
     "clean": "rm -rf node_modules/ build/ include/ lib/ coverage/ test/fixtures/output.*",
     "test": "VIPS_WARNING=0 node ./node_modules/istanbul/lib/cli.js cover ./node_modules/mocha/bin/_mocha -- --slow=5000 --timeout=30000 ./test/unit/*.js",
-    "test-win": "node ./node_modules/mocha/bin/mocha --slow=5000 --timeout=30000 ./test/unit/*.js",
+    "test-win": "node ./node_modules/mocha/bin/mocha --slow=5000 --timeout=60000 ./test/unit/*.js",
     "test-leak": "./test/leak/leak.sh",
     "test-packaging": "./packaging/test.sh",
     "test-clean": "rm -rf coverage/ test/fixtures/output.* && npm install && npm test"
diff --git a/src/pipeline.cc b/src/pipeline.cc
index 16b25cde..63aef9d9 100644
--- a/src/pipeline.cc
+++ b/src/pipeline.cc
@@ -158,7 +158,8 @@ class PipelineWorker : public AsyncWorker {
     }
 
     // Limit input images to a given number of pixels, where pixels = width * height
-    if (image.width() * image.height() > baton->limitInputPixels) {
+    // Ignore if 0
+    if (baton->limitInputPixels > 0 && image.width() * image.height() > baton->limitInputPixels) {
       (baton->err).append("Input image exceeds pixel limit");
       return Error();
     }
diff --git a/test/fixtures/giant-image.png b/test/fixtures/giant-image.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..92c08a77
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/fixtures/giant-image.png differ
diff --git a/test/fixtures/index.js b/test/fixtures/index.js
index 28bb96ad..6d80af16 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/index.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/index.js
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ module.exports = {
   inputPngOverlayLayer2LowAlpha: getPath('alpha-layer-2-ink-low-alpha.png'),
   inputPngAlphaPremultiplicationSmall: getPath('alpha-premultiply-1024x768-paper.png'),
   inputPngAlphaPremultiplicationLarge: getPath('alpha-premultiply-2048x1536-paper.png'),
+  inputPngLarge: getPath('giant-image.png'),
 
   inputWebP: getPath('4.webp'), // http://www.gstatic.com/webp/gallery/4.webp
   inputWebPWithTransparency: getPath('5_webp_a.webp'), // http://www.gstatic.com/webp/gallery3/5_webp_a.webp
diff --git a/test/unit/io.js b/test/unit/io.js
index 923b4d9e..30df745f 100644
--- a/test/unit/io.js
+++ b/test/unit/io.js
@@ -876,6 +876,24 @@ describe('Input/output', function() {
       });
     });
 
+    it('Disabling limit works', function(done) {
+      sharp(fixtures.inputPngLarge)
+        .limitInputPixels(false)
+        .toBuffer(function(err) {
+          assert.strictEqual(true, !err);
+          done();
+        });
+    });
+
+    it('Enabling default limit fails works and fails with a large image', function(done) {
+      sharp(fixtures.inputPngLarge)
+        .limitInputPixels(true)
+        .toBuffer(function(err) {
+          assert.strictEqual(true, !!err);
+          done();
+        });
+    });
+
     it('Smaller than input fails', function(done) {
       sharp(fixtures.inputJpg).metadata(function(err, metadata) {
         if (err) throw err;