diff --git a/sos/__init__.py b/sos/__init__.py
index 9cd7172857..725c003ac3 100644
--- a/sos/__init__.py
+++ b/sos/__init__.py
@@ -50,13 +50,13 @@ def _default(msg):
 
 #: Names of all arguments
 _arg_names = [
-    'add_preset', 'alloptions', 'all_logs', 'batch', 'build', 'case_id',
-    'chroot', 'compression_type', 'config_file', 'desc', 'debug', 'del_preset',
-    'dry_run', 'enableplugins', 'encrypt_key', 'encrypt_pass', 'experimental',
-    'label', 'list_plugins', 'list_presets', 'list_profiles', 'log_size',
-    'noplugins', 'noreport', 'no_env_vars', 'note', 'onlyplugins',
-    'plugin_timeout', 'plugopts', 'preset', 'profiles', 'quiet', 'sysroot',
-    'threads', 'tmp_dir', 'verbosity', 'verify'
+    'add_preset', 'alloptions', 'allow_system_changes', 'all_logs', 'batch',
+    'build', 'case_id', 'chroot', 'compression_type', 'config_file', 'desc',
+    'debug', 'del_preset', 'dry_run', 'enableplugins', 'encrypt_key',
+    'encrypt_pass', 'experimental', 'label', 'list_plugins', 'list_presets',
+    'list_profiles', 'log_size', 'noplugins', 'noreport', 'no_env_vars',
+    'note', 'onlyplugins', 'plugin_timeout', 'plugopts', 'preset', 'profiles',
+    'quiet', 'sysroot', 'threads', 'tmp_dir', 'verbosity', 'verify'
 ]
 
 #: Arguments with non-zero default values
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ def __init__(self, **kwargs):
         self.log_size = _arg_defaults["log_size"]
         self.noplugins = []
         self.noreport = False
+        self.allow_system_changes = False
         self.no_env_vars = False
         self.note = ""
         self.onlyplugins = []
@@ -219,9 +220,9 @@ def _opt_to_args(cls, opt, val):
             and verbose).
         """
         no_value = (
-            "alloptions", "all-logs", "batch", "build", "debug",
-            "experimental", "list-plugins", "list-presets", "list-profiles",
-            "noreport", "no-env-vars", "quiet", "verify"
+            "alloptions", "allow-system-changes", "all-logs", "batch", "build",
+            "debug", "experimental", "list-plugins", "list-presets",
+            "list-profiles", "noreport", "no-env-vars", "quiet", "verify"
         )
         count = ("verbose",)
         if opt in no_value:
diff --git a/sos/plugins/__init__.py b/sos/plugins/__init__.py
index e51ca6a7ea..66c2647071 100644
--- a/sos/plugins/__init__.py
+++ b/sos/plugins/__init__.py
@@ -750,7 +750,10 @@ def get_option(self, optionname, default=0):
         matches any of the option names is returned.
         """
 
-        global_options = ('verify', 'all_logs', 'log_size', 'plugin_timeout')
+        global_options = (
+            'all_logs', 'allow_system_changes', 'log_size', 'plugin_timeout',
+            'verify'
+        )
 
         if optionname in global_options:
             return getattr(self.commons['cmdlineopts'], optionname)
diff --git a/sos/sosreport.py b/sos/sosreport.py
index 04cb861557..723e3e583c 100644
--- a/sos/sosreport.py
+++ b/sos/sosreport.py
@@ -221,6 +221,10 @@ def _get_parser():
     parser.add_argument("-t", "--threads", action="store", dest="threads",
                         help="specify number of concurrent plugins to run"
                         " (default=4)", default=4, type=int)
+    parser.add_argument("--allow-system-changes", action="store_true",
+                        dest="allow_system_changes", default=False,
+                        help="Run commands even if they can change the "
+                             "system (e.g. load kernel modules)")
 
     # Group to make add/del preset exclusive
     preset_grp = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()