diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/rc_option_editor.cc b/gtk2_ardour/rc_option_editor.cc
index 0e3d585342..124b965d98 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/rc_option_editor.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/rc_option_editor.cc
@@ -2857,6 +2857,17 @@ These settings will only take effect after %1 is restarted.\n\
 	add_option (_("Appearance/Quirks"), bo);
 
 #ifndef __APPLE__
+
+#ifndef PLATFORM_WINDOWS
+	bo = new BoolOption (
+			"hide-splash-screen",
+			_("Show/Hide splash screen instead of setting z-axis stack order"),
+			sigc::mem_fun (UIConfiguration::instance(), &UIConfiguration::get_hide_splash_screen),
+			sigc::mem_fun (UIConfiguration::instance(), &UIConfiguration::set_hide_splash_screen)
+			);
+	add_option (_("Appearance/Quirks"), bo);
+#endif
+
 	bo = new BoolOption (
 			"all-floating-windows-are-dialogs",
 			_("All floating windows are dialogs"),
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/splash.cc b/gtk2_ardour/splash.cc
index 6c880d572b..581f95e3f1 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/splash.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/splash.cc
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@
 #endif
 
 #include "gui_thread.h"
+#include "opts.h"
 #include "splash.h"
+#include "ui_config.h"
 
 #include "pbd/i18n.h"
 
@@ -119,7 +121,10 @@ Splash::Splash ()
 	expose_done = false;
 	expose_is_the_one = false;
 
-	ARDOUR::BootMessage.connect (msg_connection, invalidator (*this), boost::bind (&Splash::boot_message, this, _1), gui_context());
+	if (!ARDOUR_COMMAND_LINE::no_splash) {
+		ARDOUR::BootMessage.connect (msg_connection, invalidator (*this), boost::bind (&Splash::boot_message, this, _1), gui_context());
+		present ();
+	}
 }
 
 Splash::~Splash ()
@@ -133,6 +138,7 @@ Splash::~Splash ()
 void
 Splash::pop_back_for (Gtk::Window& win)
 {
+	set_keep_above (false);
 #if defined  __APPLE__ || defined PLATFORM_WINDOWS
 	/* April 2013: window layering on OS X is a bit different to X Window. at present,
 	 * the "restack()" functionality in GDK will only operate on windows in the same
@@ -149,9 +155,11 @@ Splash::pop_back_for (Gtk::Window& win)
 	(void) win;
 	hide();
 #else
-	set_keep_above (false);
-	if (is_mapped()) {
+	if (UIConfiguration::instance().get_hide_splash_screen ()) {
+		hide ();
+	} else if (is_mapped()) {
 		get_window()->restack (win.get_window(), false);
+		win.set_transient_for (*this);
 	}
 #endif
 	_window_stack.insert (&win);
@@ -177,13 +185,22 @@ Splash::pop_front ()
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (ARDOUR_COMMAND_LINE::no_splash) {
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (get_window()) {
 #if defined  __APPLE__ || defined PLATFORM_WINDOWS
 		show ();
 #else
-		gdk_window_restack(get_window()->gobj(), NULL, true);
-		set_keep_above (true);
+		if (UIConfiguration::instance().get_hide_splash_screen ()) {
+			show ();
+		} else {
+			unset_transient_for ();
+			gdk_window_restack (get_window()->gobj(), NULL, true);
+		}
 #endif
+		set_keep_above (true);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -268,6 +285,10 @@ Splash::display ()
 {
 	bool was_mapped = is_mapped ();
 
+	if (ARDOUR_COMMAND_LINE::no_splash) {
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (!was_mapped) {
 		expose_done = false;
 		expose_is_the_one = false;
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/startup_fsm.cc b/gtk2_ardour/startup_fsm.cc
index 4bf29d8a7f..76af76d32c 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/startup_fsm.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/startup_fsm.cc
@@ -438,6 +438,7 @@ StartupFSM::show_audiomidi_dialog ()
 void
 StartupFSM::start_audio_midi_setup ()
 {
+	BootMessage (_("Starting Audio/MIDI Engine"));
 	bool setup_required = false;
 
 	boost::shared_ptr<AudioBackend> backend = AudioEngine::instance()->current_backend();
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/ui_config_vars.h b/gtk2_ardour/ui_config_vars.h
index a31420dedc..73be3f97ea 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/ui_config_vars.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/ui_config_vars.h
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (int32_t, max_plugin_recent, "max-plugin-recent", 10)
 UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (bool, prefer_inline_over_gui, "prefer-inline-over-gui", true)
 UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (uint32_t, max_inline_controls, "max-inline-controls", 32) /* per processor */
 UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (uint32_t, action_table_columns, "action-table-columns", 3)
+UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (bool, hide_splash_screen, "hide-splash-screen", false)
 UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (bool, use_wm_visibility, "use-wm-visibility", true)
 UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (std::string, stripable_color_palette, "stripable-color-palette", "#AA3939:#FFAAAA:#D46A6A:#801515:#550000:#AA8E39:#FFEAAA:#D4BA6A:#806515:#554000:#343477:#8080B3:#565695:#1A1A59:#09093B:#2D882D:#88CC88:#55AA55:#116611:#004400")  /* Gtk::ColorSelection::palette_to_string */
 UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (bool, use_note_bars_for_velocity, "use-note-bars-for-velocity", true)