diff --git a/app/config/config-default.js b/app/config/config-default.js
index e75b7ca38dd6..02c17d465a7a 100644
--- a/app/config/config-default.js
+++ b/app/config/config-default.js
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ module.exports = {
     // font weight for bold characters: 'normal' or 'bold'
     fontWeightBold: 'bold',
 
+    // line height as a relative unit
+    lineHeight: 1,
+
     // terminal cursor background color and opacity (hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, hwb or cmyk)
     cursorColor: 'rgba(248,28,229,0.8)',
 
diff --git a/lib/components/term-group.js b/lib/components/term-group.js
index f8343662eba6..f4b10b51e281 100644
--- a/lib/components/term-group.js
+++ b/lib/components/term-group.js
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ class TermGroup_ extends React.PureComponent {
       fontSmoothing: this.props.fontSmoothing,
       fontWeight: this.props.fontWeight,
       fontWeightBold: this.props.fontWeightBold,
+      lineHeight: this.props.lineHeight,
       modifierKeys: this.props.modifierKeys,
       padding: this.props.padding,
       url: session.url,
diff --git a/lib/components/term.js b/lib/components/term.js
index 08204e60f581..d05cd49d8d00 100644
--- a/lib/components/term.js
+++ b/lib/components/term.js
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ const getTermOptions = props => {
     fontSize: props.fontSize,
     fontWeight: props.fontWeight,
     fontWeightBold: props.fontWeightBold,
+    lineHeight: props.lineHeight,
     allowTransparency: needTransparency,
     experimentalCharAtlas: 'dynamic',
     theme: {
@@ -263,7 +264,10 @@ export default class Term extends React.PureComponent {
       });
     }
 
-    if (this.props.fontSize !== nextProps.fontSize || this.props.fontFamily !== nextProps.fontFamily) {
+    const fontSizeChanged = this.props.fontSize !== nextProps.fontSize;
+    const fontFamilyChanged = this.props.fontFamily !== nextProps.fontFamily;
+    const lineHeightChanged = this.props.lineHeight !== nextProps.lineHeight;
+    if (fontSizeChanged || fontFamilyChanged || lineHeightChanged) {
       // invalidate xterm cache about how wide each
       // character is
       this.term.charMeasure.measure(this.termOptions);
diff --git a/lib/components/terms.js b/lib/components/terms.js
index 5bfe7a00edde..65620b2168a9 100644
--- a/lib/components/terms.js
+++ b/lib/components/terms.js
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ export default class Terms extends React.Component {
             uiFontFamily: this.props.uiFontFamily,
             fontWeight: this.props.fontWeight,
             fontWeightBold: this.props.fontWeightBold,
+            lineHeight: this.props.lineHeight,
             padding: this.props.padding,
             bell: this.props.bell,
             bellSoundURL: this.props.bellSoundURL,
diff --git a/lib/containers/terms.js b/lib/containers/terms.js
index d80b0082a47e..bc1677ab7019 100644
--- a/lib/containers/terms.js
+++ b/lib/containers/terms.js
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ const TermsContainer = connect(
       fontFamily: state.ui.fontFamily,
       fontWeight: state.ui.fontWeight,
       fontWeightBold: state.ui.fontWeightBold,
+      lineHeight: state.ui.lineHeight,
       uiFontFamily: state.ui.uiFontFamily,
       fontSmoothing: state.ui.fontSmoothingOverride,
       padding: state.ui.padding,
diff --git a/lib/reducers/ui.js b/lib/reducers/ui.js
index 3a018979dd25..b0a68fa68d1e 100644
--- a/lib/reducers/ui.js
+++ b/lib/reducers/ui.js
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ const initial = Immutable({
   fontSmoothingOverride: 'antialiased',
   fontWeight: 'normal',
   fontWeightBold: 'bold',
+  lineHeight: 1,
   css: '',
   termCSS: '',
   openAt: {},
@@ -138,6 +139,10 @@ const reducer = (state = initial, action) => {
               ret.fontWeightBold = config.fontWeightBold;
             }
 
+            if (Number.isFinite(config.lineHeight)) {
+              ret.lineHeight = config.lineHeight;
+            }
+
             if (config.uiFontFamily) {
               ret.uiFontFamily = config.uiFontFamily;
             }