diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8428194c..6522e6f3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+.idea
 .*.swp
 node_modules/*
 nyc_output/
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index afcd3f3d..5d55d816 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -92,15 +92,16 @@ Pass the following arguments to the parser function.  All are optional.
 
 `strict` - Boolean. Whether or not to be a jerk. Default: `false`.
 
-`opt` - Object bag of settings regarding string formatting.  All default to `false`.
+`opt` - Object bag of settings regarding string formatting.  All default to `false`, `looseCasing` default to `upper`.
 
 Settings supported:
 
 * `trim` - Boolean. Whether or not to trim text and comment nodes.
 * `normalize` - Boolean. If true, then turn any whitespace into a single
   space.
-* `lowercase` - Boolean. If true, then lowercase tag names and attribute names
-  in loose mode, rather than uppercasing them.
+* `looseCasing` - String (`'lower'`/`'upper'`/`null`). In loose mode, the casing of tag names and
+  attributes will be lower/upper cased or unchanged.
+  The deprecated `lowercase` and `lowercasetags` overrides this property if set.
 * `xmlns` - Boolean. If true, then namespaces are supported.
 * `position` - Boolean. If false, then don't track line/col/position.
 * `strictEntities` - Boolean. If true, only parse [predefined XML
@@ -174,8 +175,9 @@ but before any attributes are encountered.  Argument: object with a
 same object that will later be emitted in the `opentag` event.
 
 `opentag` - An opening tag. Argument: object with `name` and `attributes`.
-In non-strict mode, tag names are uppercased, unless the `lowercase`
-option is set.  If the `xmlns` option is set, then it will contain
+In non-strict mode, tag names will be lower/upper cased or unchanged if `looseCasing`
+option is set to `lower`, `upper` or `null` (defaults to `upper`).
+If the `xmlns` option is set, then it will contain
 namespace binding information on the `ns` member, and will have a
 `local`, `prefix`, and `uri` member.
 
@@ -185,8 +187,9 @@ self-closing tags will have `closeTag` emitted immediately after `openTag`.
 Argument: tag name.
 
 `attribute` - An attribute node.  Argument: object with `name` and `value`.
-In non-strict mode, attribute names are uppercased, unless the `lowercase`
-option is set.  If the `xmlns` option is set, it will also contains namespace
+In non-strict mode, attribute names will be lower/upper cased or unchanged if `looseCasing`
+option is set to `lower`, `upper` or `null` (defaults to `upper`).
+If the `xmlns` option is set, it will also contains namespace
 information.
 
 `comment` - A comment node.  Argument: the string of the comment.
diff --git a/lib/sax.js b/lib/sax.js
index db0d4c31..0183fee1 100644
--- a/lib/sax.js
+++ b/lib/sax.js
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@
     'closenamespace'
   ]
 
+  var looseCaseMapping = {
+    lower: 'toLowerCase',
+    upper: 'toUpperCase'
+  }
+
   function SAXParser (strict, opt) {
     if (!(this instanceof SAXParser)) {
       return new SAXParser(strict, opt)
@@ -52,8 +57,17 @@
     parser.q = parser.c = ''
     parser.bufferCheckPosition = sax.MAX_BUFFER_LENGTH
     parser.opt = opt || {}
-    parser.opt.lowercase = parser.opt.lowercase || parser.opt.lowercasetags
-    parser.looseCase = parser.opt.lowercase ? 'toLowerCase' : 'toUpperCase'
+
+    if (!parser.opt.hasOwnProperty('looseCasing')) {
+      parser.opt.looseCasing = 'upper'
+    }
+    parser.looseCase = looseCaseMapping[parser.opt.looseCasing]
+
+    // backwards support for deprecated "lowercase" and "lowercasetags" options
+    if (parser.opt.hasOwnProperty('lowercase') || parser.opt.hasOwnProperty('lowercasetags')) {
+      parser.looseCase = (parser.opt.lowercase || parser.opt.lowercasetags) ? 'toLowerCase' : 'toUpperCase'
+    }
+
     parser.tags = []
     parser.closed = parser.closedRoot = parser.sawRoot = false
     parser.tag = parser.error = null
@@ -695,7 +709,9 @@
   }
 
   function newTag (parser) {
-    if (!parser.strict) parser.tagName = parser.tagName[parser.looseCase]()
+    if (!parser.strict && parser.looseCase) {
+      parser.tagName = parser.tagName[parser.looseCase]()
+    }
     var parent = parser.tags[parser.tags.length - 1] || parser
     var tag = parser.tag = { name: parser.tagName, attributes: {} }
 
@@ -723,7 +739,7 @@
   }
 
   function attrib (parser) {
-    if (!parser.strict) {
+    if (!parser.strict && parser.looseCase) {
       parser.attribName = parser.attribName[parser.looseCase]()
     }
 
@@ -876,7 +892,7 @@
     // <a><b></c></b></a> will close everything, otherwise.
     var t = parser.tags.length
     var tagName = parser.tagName
-    if (!parser.strict) {
+    if (!parser.strict && parser.looseCase) {
       tagName = tagName[parser.looseCase]()
     }
     var closeTo = tagName
diff --git a/test/casing.js b/test/casing.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..223ed386
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/casing.js
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+// test lower looseCasing
+require(__dirname).test({
+  xml: '<span class="test" hello="world"></span>',
+  expect: [
+    [ 'opentagstart', {
+      name: 'span',
+      attributes: {}
+    } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'class', value: 'test' } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'hello', value: 'world' } ],
+    [ 'opentag', {
+      name: 'span',
+      attributes: { class: 'test', hello: 'world' },
+      isSelfClosing: false
+    } ],
+    [ 'closetag', 'span' ]
+  ],
+  strict: false,
+  opt: {looseCasing: 'lower'}
+})
+
+// test upper looseCasing
+require(__dirname).test({
+  xml: '<span class="test" hello="world"></span>',
+  expect: [
+    [ 'opentagstart', {
+      name: 'SPAN',
+      attributes: {}
+    } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'CLASS', value: 'test' } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'HELLO', value: 'world' } ],
+    [ 'opentag', {
+      name: 'SPAN',
+      attributes: { CLASS: 'test', HELLO: 'world' },
+      isSelfClosing: false
+    } ],
+    [ 'closetag', 'SPAN' ]
+  ],
+  strict: false,
+  opt: {looseCasing: 'upper'}
+})
+
+// test no looseCasing
+require(__dirname).test({
+  xml: '<span className="test" hello="world"></span>',
+  expect: [
+    [ 'opentagstart', {
+      name: 'span',
+      attributes: {}
+    } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'className', value: 'test' } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'hello', value: 'world' } ],
+    [ 'opentag', {
+      name: 'span',
+      attributes: { className: 'test', hello: 'world' },
+      isSelfClosing: false
+    } ],
+    [ 'closetag', 'span' ]
+  ],
+  strict: false,
+  opt: {looseCasing: null}
+})
+
+// make sure deprecated lowercase overrides the looseCasing null option
+require(__dirname).test({
+  xml: '<span className="test" hello="world"></span>',
+  expect: [
+    [ 'opentagstart', {
+      name: 'span',
+      attributes: {}
+    } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'classname', value: 'test' } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'hello', value: 'world' } ],
+    [ 'opentag', {
+      name: 'span',
+      attributes: { classname: 'test', hello: 'world' },
+      isSelfClosing: false
+    } ],
+    [ 'closetag', 'span' ]
+  ],
+  strict: false,
+  opt: {lowercase: true, looseCasing: null}
+})
+
+// make sure deprecated lowercase overrides the looseCasing upper option
+require(__dirname).test({
+  xml: '<span className="test" hello="world"></span>',
+  expect: [
+    [ 'opentagstart', {
+      name: 'span',
+      attributes: {}
+    } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'classname', value: 'test' } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'hello', value: 'world' } ],
+    [ 'opentag', {
+      name: 'span',
+      attributes: { classname: 'test', hello: 'world' },
+      isSelfClosing: false
+    } ],
+    [ 'closetag', 'span' ]
+  ],
+  strict: false,
+  opt: {lowercase: true, looseCasing: 'upper'}
+})
+
+// make sure deprecated lowercasetags overrides the looseCasing upper option
+require(__dirname).test({
+  xml: '<span className="test" hello="world"></span>',
+  expect: [
+    [ 'opentagstart', {
+      name: 'span',
+      attributes: {}
+    } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'classname', value: 'test' } ],
+    [ 'attribute', { name: 'hello', value: 'world' } ],
+    [ 'opentag', {
+      name: 'span',
+      attributes: { classname: 'test', hello: 'world' },
+      isSelfClosing: false
+    } ],
+    [ 'closetag', 'span' ]
+  ],
+  strict: false,
+  opt: {lowercasetags: true, looseCasing: 'upper'}
+})