diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index eabf4327c..ee6916cde 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2007-10-11 Paolo Nenzi <p.nenzi@ieee.org>
+ * src/main.c, src/frontend/{inpcom.c, miscvars.c}: added option -a
+   and --autorun to add the control section ans run the loaded netlist.
+   In the original implementation by Phil Barker, the loaded circuit was
+   always run, both in interactive and batch mode.
+
 2007-10-09 Paolo Nenzi <p.nenzi@ieee.org>
  * src/frontend/{device.c, miscvars.c}: added "altshow" option to 
    enable the new (Phil Barker) version of the show command. The 
diff --git a/src/frontend/inpcom.c b/src/frontend/inpcom.c
index 5feb3777e..d9f557505 100644
--- a/src/frontend/inpcom.c
+++ b/src/frontend/inpcom.c
@@ -982,6 +982,8 @@ inp_readall(FILE *fp, struct line **data, int call_depth, char *dir_name)
     bool found_library, found_lib_name, found_end = FALSE, shell_eol_continuation = FALSE;
     bool dir_name_flag = FALSE;
 
+    struct variable *v;
+
     /*   Must set this to NULL or non-tilde includes segfault. -- Tim Molteno   */
     /* copys = NULL; */   /*  This caused a parse error with gcc 2.96.  Why???  */
 
@@ -1493,7 +1495,9 @@ inp_readall(FILE *fp, struct line **data, int call_depth, char *dir_name)
       inp_fix_inst_calls_for_numparam(working);
       inp_fix_gnd_name(working);
       inp_chk_for_multi_in_vcvs(working, &line_number);
-      inp_add_control_section(working, &line_number);
+
+       if (cp_getvar("addcontrol", VT_BOOL, (char *) &v))
+          inp_add_control_section(working, &line_number);
     }
     *data = cc;
     return;
diff --git a/src/frontend/miscvars.c b/src/frontend/miscvars.c
index f8a8f4c15..0a53959ab 100644
--- a/src/frontend/miscvars.c
+++ b/src/frontend/miscvars.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ bool ft_asyncdb = FALSE;
 char *ft_setkwords[] = {
 
     "acct",
+    "addcontrol",
     "altshow",
     "appendwrite",
     "bypass",
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index ac47361ea..a2da1cdc6 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -515,6 +515,7 @@ show_help(void)
     printf("Usage: %s [OPTION]... [FILE]...\n"
 	   "Simulate the electical circuits in FILE.\n"
 	   "\n"
+           "  -a  --autorun             run the loaded netlist\n"
 	   "  -b, --batch               process FILE in batch mode\n"
 	   "  -c, --circuitfile=FILE    set the circuitfile\n"
 	   "  -i, --interactive         run in interactive mode\n"
@@ -633,6 +634,9 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     int		err;
     bool	gotone = FALSE;
     char*       copystring;/*DG*/
+    char        addctrlsect = TRUE; /* PN: for autorun */
+
+
 #ifdef SIMULATOR
     int error2;
     
@@ -738,6 +742,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	    {"help", 0, 0, 'h'},
 	    {"version", 0, 0, 'v'},
 	    {"batch", 0, 0, 'b'},
+            {"autorun", 0, 0, 'a'},
 	    {"circuitfile", 0, 0, 'c'},
 	    {"interactive", 0, 0, 'i'},
 	    {"no-spiceinit", 0, 0, 'n'},
@@ -749,7 +754,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	    {0, 0, 0, 0}
 	};
 
-	c = getopt_long (argc, argv, "hvbc:ihno:qr:st:",
+	c = getopt_long (argc, argv, "hvbac:ihno:qr:st:",
 			 long_options, &option_index);
 	if (c == -1)
 	    break;
@@ -767,8 +772,17 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	    case 'b':		/* Batch mode */
 		ft_batchmode = TRUE;
+                addctrlsect = FALSE;
+                cp_vset("addcontrol",VT_BOOL,&addctrlsect);
 		break;
 
+            case 'a':           /* Add control section for autorun */
+                if (!ft_batchmode) {
+                    addctrlsect = TRUE;
+                    cp_vset("addcontrol",VT_BOOL, &addctrlsect);
+                    }
+                break;
+
 	    case 'c':		/* Circuit file */
 		if (optarg) {
 		    if (!(circuit_file = fopen(optarg, "r"))) {