diff --git a/lib/default.php b/lib/default.php
index a1dac7b5e1..26b872da4b 100644
--- a/lib/default.php
+++ b/lib/default.php
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ $default =
               'schemacheck' => 'runtime', // 'runtime' or 'script'
               'annotate_queries' => false, // true to add caller comments to queries, eg /* POST Notice::saveNew */
               'log_queries' => false, // true to log all DB queries
-              'log_slow_queries' => 0), // if set, log queries taking over N seconds
+              'log_slow_queries' => 0, // if set, log queries taking over N seconds
+              'mysql_foreign_keys' => false), // if set, enables experimental foreign key support on MySQL
         'syslog' =>
         array('appname' => 'statusnet', # for syslog
               'priority' => 'debug', # XXX: currently ignored
diff --git a/lib/mysqlschema.php b/lib/mysqlschema.php
index b21008518b..937c20ea8b 100644
--- a/lib/mysqlschema.php
+++ b/lib/mysqlschema.php
@@ -400,8 +400,9 @@ class MysqlSchema extends Schema
             $col['type'] = $this->mapType($col);
             unset($col['size']);
         }
-        // @fixme add foreign-key support for MySQL
-        unset($tableDef['foreign keys']);
+        if (!common_config('db', 'mysql_foreign_keys')) {
+            unset($tableDef['foreign keys']);
+        }
         return $tableDef;
     }
 }