diff --git a/src/ng/location.js b/src/ng/location.js
index a6c3952a9036..cf14bbbe1728 100644
--- a/src/ng/location.js
+++ b/src/ng/location.js
@@ -541,7 +541,8 @@ function locationGetterSetter(property, preprocess) {
  */
 function $LocationProvider(){
   var hashPrefix = '',
-      html5Mode = false;
+      html5Mode = false,
+      rewriteLinks = true;
 
   /**
    * @ngdoc property
@@ -575,6 +576,23 @@ function $LocationProvider(){
     }
   };
 
+  /**
+   * @ngdoc property
+   * @name ng.$locationProvider#rewriteLinks
+   * @methodOf ng.$locationProvider
+   * @description
+   * @param {boolean=} allowRewrite Automatically rewrite links on the page.
+   * @returns {*} current value if used as getter or itself (chaining) if used as setter
+   */
+  this.rewriteLinks = function(allowRewrite) {
+    if (isDefined(allowRewrite)) {
+      rewriteLinks = allowRewrite;
+      return this;
+    } else {
+      return rewriteLinks;
+    }
+  };
+
   /**
    * @ngdoc event
    * @name $location#$locationChangeStart
@@ -624,7 +642,7 @@ function $LocationProvider(){
       // TODO(vojta): rewrite link when opening in new tab/window (in legacy browser)
       // currently we open nice url link and redirect then
 
-      if (event.ctrlKey || event.metaKey || event.which == 2) return;
+      if (!rewriteLinks || event.ctrlKey || event.metaKey || event.which == 2) return;
 
       var elm = jqLite(event.target);
 
diff --git a/test/ng/locationSpec.js b/test/ng/locationSpec.js
index ff823d306efd..c1a7575c86c4 100644
--- a/test/ng/locationSpec.js
+++ b/test/ng/locationSpec.js
@@ -779,9 +779,12 @@ describe('$location', function() {
 
     var root, link, originalBrowser, lastEventPreventDefault;
 
-    function configureService(linkHref, html5Mode, supportHist, attrs, content) {
+    function configureService(linkHref, html5Mode, supportHist, attrs, content, allowRewrite) {
       module(function($provide, $locationProvider) {
         attrs = attrs ? ' ' + attrs + ' ' : '';
+        if (!isDefined(allowRewrite)) {
+          allowRewrite = true
+        }
 
         // fake the base behavior
         if (linkHref[0] == '/') {
@@ -795,6 +798,7 @@ describe('$location', function() {
         $provide.value('$sniffer', {history: supportHist});
         $locationProvider.html5Mode(html5Mode);
         $locationProvider.hashPrefix('!');
+        $locationProvider.rewriteLinks(allowRewrite);
         return function($rootElement, $document) {
           $rootElement.append(link);
           root = $rootElement[0];
@@ -957,6 +961,19 @@ describe('$location', function() {
     });
 
 
+    it ('should not rewrite links when rewriting links is disabled', function() {
+      configureService('/a?b=c', true, true, '', 'some content', false);
+      inject(
+        initBrowser(),
+        initLocation(),
+        function($browser) {
+          browserTrigger(link, 'click');
+          expectNoRewrite($browser);
+        }
+      );
+    });
+
+
     it('should rewrite full url links to same domain and base path', function() {
       configureService('http://host.com/base/new', true);
       inject(