diff --git a/doc_src/doc.hdr b/doc_src/doc.hdr
index 5bcca19d7..3ccba1907 100644
--- a/doc_src/doc.hdr
+++ b/doc_src/doc.hdr
@@ -777,6 +777,7 @@ certain environment variables.
 - \c BROWSER, which is the users preferred web browser. If this variable is set, fish will use the specified browser instead of the system default browser to display the fish documentation.
 - \c CDPATH, which is an array of directories in which to search for the new directory for the \c cd builtin.
 - A large number of variable starting with the prefixes \c fish_color and \c fish_pager_color. See <a href='#variables-color'>Variables for changing highlighting colors</a> for more information.
+- \c fish_greeting, which is the greeting message printed on startup.
 - \c LANG, \c LC_ALL, \c LC_COLLATE, \c LC_CTYPE, \c LC_MESSAGES, \c LC_MONETARY, \c LC_NUMERIC and \c LC_TIME set the language option for the shell and subprograms. See the section <a href='#variables-locale'>Locale variables</a> for more information.
 - \c PATH, which is an array of directories in which to search for commands
 - \c umask, which is the current file creation mask. The preferred way to change the umask variable is through the <a href="commands.html#umask">umask shellscript function</a>. An attempt to set umask to an invalid value will always fail.
@@ -2490,6 +2491,7 @@ DAMAGES.
 - <a href='#faq-open'>The open command doesn't work.</a>
 - <a href='#faq-default'>How do I make fish my default shell?</a>
 - <a href='#faq-titlebar'>I'm seeing weird output before each prompt when using screen. What's wrong?</a>
+- <a href='#faq-greeting'>How do I change the greeting message?</a>
 
 <hr>
 
@@ -2603,4 +2605,16 @@ You may need to adjust the above path to e.g. /usr/local/bin/fish.
 You will need to log out and back in again for the change to take
 effect.
 
+<hr>
+
+\section faq-greeting How do I change the greeting message?
+
+Change the value of the variable fish_greeting. For example, to remove
+the greeting use:
+
+<pre>
+set fish_greeting
+</pre>
+
+
 */
diff --git a/etc/fish_interactive.fish.in b/etc/fish_interactive.fish.in
index 0e5d55432..4e96daba6 100644
--- a/etc/fish_interactive.fish.in
+++ b/etc/fish_interactive.fish.in
@@ -7,13 +7,6 @@ if not status --is-interactive
 	exit
 end
 
-#
-# Print a greeting 
-#
-
-printf (_ 'Welcome to fish, the friendly interactive shell\n')
-printf (_ 'Type %shelp%s for instructions on how to use fish\n') (set_color green) (set_color normal)
-
 #
 # Set exit message
 #
diff --git a/share/fish.in b/share/fish.in
index b1d88b784..8b1feeadf 100644
--- a/share/fish.in
+++ b/share/fish.in
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ if not set -q fish_complete_path
 	set -U fish_complete_path ~/.fish.d/completions  @sysconfdir@/fish.d/completions  @datadir@/fish/completions 
 end
 
-
 set __fish_help_dir @docdir@
 
 # This is a Solaris-specific test to modify the PATH so that
@@ -74,6 +73,19 @@ for i in (printf "%s\n" $path_list|grep -E -v $path_regexp)
 	end
 end
 
+#
+# Print a greeting 
+#
+
+if not set -q fish_greeting
+	set -l line1 (printf (_ 'Welcome to fish, the friendly interactive shell') )
+	set -l line2 (printf (_ 'Type %shelp%s for instructions on how to use fish') (set_color green) (set_color normal))
+	set -U fish_greeting $line1\n$line2
+end
+
+echo $fish_greeting
+
+
 #
 # Don't need completions in non-interactive mode
 #