diff --git a/bin/verilator b/bin/verilator
index b3d6da8c2..9fe7c4a2f 100755
--- a/bin/verilator
+++ b/bin/verilator
@@ -234,6 +234,7 @@ descriptions in the next sections for more information.
     --sc                        Create SystemC output
     --sp                        Create SystemPerl output
     --stats                     Create statistics file
+    -sv                         Enable SystemVerilog parsing
     --top-module <topname>      Name of top level input module
     --trace                     Enable waveform creation
     --trace-depth <levels>      Depth of tracing
@@ -600,6 +601,12 @@ Specifies SystemPerl output mode; see also --cc and -sc.
 
 Creates a dump file with statistics on the design in {prefix}__stats.txt.
 
+=item -sv
+
+Specifies SystemVerilog language features should be enabled; equivalent to
+"--language 1800-2005".  This option is selected by default, it exists for
+compatibility with other simulators.
+
 =item --top-module I<topname>
 
 When the input Verilog contains more than one top level module, specifies
diff --git a/src/V3Options.cpp b/src/V3Options.cpp
index 0c471253a..01542d0ca 100644
--- a/src/V3Options.cpp
+++ b/src/V3Options.cpp
@@ -677,9 +677,10 @@ void V3Options::parseOptsList(FileLine* fl, int argc, char** argv) {
 	    else if ( onoff   (sw, "-psl", flag/*ref*/) )		{ m_psl = flag; }
 	    else if ( onoff   (sw, "-public", flag/*ref*/) )		{ m_public = flag; }
 	    else if ( !strcmp (sw, "-sc") )				{ m_outFormatOk = true; m_systemC = true; m_systemPerl = false; }
-	    else if ( !strcmp (sw, "-sp") )				{ m_outFormatOk = true; m_systemC = true; m_systemPerl = true; }
 	    else if ( onoff   (sw, "-skip-identical", flag/*ref*/) )	{ m_skipIdentical = flag; }
+	    else if ( !strcmp (sw, "-sp") )				{ m_outFormatOk = true; m_systemC = true; m_systemPerl = true; }
 	    else if ( onoff   (sw, "-stats", flag/*ref*/) )		{ m_stats = flag; }
+	    else if ( !strcmp (sw, "-sv") )				{ m_language = V3LangCode::L1800_2005; }
 	    else if ( onoff   (sw, "-trace", flag/*ref*/) )		{ m_trace = flag; }
 	    else if ( onoff   (sw, "-trace-dups", flag/*ref*/) )	{ m_traceDups = flag; }
 	    else if ( onoff   (sw, "-underline-zero", flag/*ref*/) )	{ m_underlineZero = flag; }  // Undocumented, old Verilator-2