diff --git a/qrenc.c b/qrenc.c
index c09c4ab6..a67b5c4f 100644
--- a/qrenc.c
+++ b/qrenc.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ static int dpi = 72;
 static int structured = 0;
 static int rle = 0;
 static int svg_path = 0;
+static int svg_no_background = 0;
 static int micro = 0;
 static int inline_svg = 0;
 static int strict_versioning = 0;
@@ -91,6 +92,7 @@ static const struct option options[] = {
 	{"micro"         , no_argument      , NULL, 'M'},
 	{"rle"           , no_argument      , &rle,   1},
 	{"svg-path"      , no_argument      , &svg_path, 1},
+	{"svg-no-background", no_argument   , &svg_no_background, 1},
 	{"inline"        , no_argument      , &inline_svg, 1},
 	{"strict-version", no_argument      , &strict_versioning, 1},
 	{"foreground"    , required_argument, NULL, 'f'},
@@ -155,6 +157,8 @@ static void usage(int help, int longopt, int status)
 "               specify foreground/background color in hexadecimal notation.\n"
 "               6-digit (RGB) or 8-digit (RGBA) form are supported.\n"
 "               Color output support available only in PNG, EPS and SVG.\n\n"
+"      --svg-no-background\n"
+"               don't add a background for SVG output.\n\n"
 "      --strict-version\n"
 "               disable automatic version number adjustment. If the input data is\n"
 "               too large for the specified version, the program exits with the\n"
@@ -588,11 +592,13 @@ static int writeSVG(const QRcode *qrcode, const char *outfile)
 	fputs("\t<g id=\"QRcode\">\n", fp);
 
 	/* Make solid background */
-	if(bg_color[3] != 255) {
-		fprintf(fp, "\t\t<rect x=\"0\" y=\"0\" width=\"%d\" height=\"%d\" fill=\"#%s\" fill-opacity=\"%f\"/>\n", symwidth, symwidth, bg, bg_opacity);
-	} else {
-		fprintf(fp, "\t\t<rect x=\"0\" y=\"0\" width=\"%d\" height=\"%d\" fill=\"#%s\"/>\n", symwidth, symwidth, bg);
-	}
+  if(!svg_no_background) { 
+    if(bg_color[3] != 255) {
+      fprintf(fp, "\t\t<rect x=\"0\" y=\"0\" width=\"%d\" height=\"%d\" fill=\"#%s\" fill-opacity=\"%f\"/>\n", symwidth, symwidth, bg, bg_opacity);
+    } else {
+      fprintf(fp, "\t\t<rect x=\"0\" y=\"0\" width=\"%d\" height=\"%d\" fill=\"#%s\"/>\n", symwidth, symwidth, bg);
+    }
+  }
 
 	if(svg_path) {
 		if(fg_color[3] != 255) {
diff --git a/qrencode.1.in b/qrencode.1.in
index c8e31da1..8ca07ba9 100644
--- a/qrencode.1.in
+++ b/qrencode.1.in
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ enable run-length encoding for SVG.
 .B \-\-svg-path
 use single path to draw modules for SVG.
 .TP
+.B \-\-svg-no-background
+don't add a background for SVG output.
+.TP
 .B \-\-inline
 only useful for SVG output, generates an SVG without the XML tag.
 .TP