diff --git a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
index 3b10141a7..a89811344 100644
--- a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -384,6 +384,11 @@ bool CmdLineParser::ParseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
                 _settings->userUndefs.insert(undef);
             }
 
+            // -E
+            else if (std::strcmp(argv[i], "-E") == 0) {
+                _settings->preprocessOnly = true;
+            }
+
             // Include paths
             else if (std::strncmp(argv[i], "-I", 2) == 0) {
                 std::string path;
@@ -729,12 +734,12 @@ bool CmdLineParser::ParseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
         }
     }
 
-    if (def && !_settings->_force && !maxconfigs)
-        _settings->_maxConfigs = 1U;
-
     if (_settings->_force)
         _settings->_maxConfigs = ~0U;
 
+    else if ((def || _settings->preprocessOnly) && !maxconfigs)
+        _settings->_maxConfigs = 1U;
+
     if (_settings->isEnabled("unusedFunction") && _settings->_jobs > 1) {
         PrintMessage("cppcheck: unusedFunction check can't be used with '-j' option. Disabling unusedFunction check.");
     }
@@ -799,6 +804,8 @@ void CmdLineParser::PrintHelp()
               "    -U<ID>               Undefine preprocessor symbol. Use -U to explicitly\n"
               "                         hide certain #ifdef <ID> code paths from checking.\n"
               "                         Example: '-UDEBUG'\n"
+              "    -E                   Print preprocessor output on stdout and don't do any\n"
+              "                         further processing.\n"
               "    --enable=<id>        Enable additional checks. The available ids are:\n"
               "                          * all\n"
               "                                  Enable all checks. It is recommended to only\n"
diff --git a/lib/cppcheck.cpp b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
index e669065f6..301f74338 100644
--- a/lib/cppcheck.cpp
+++ b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
@@ -187,6 +187,22 @@ unsigned int CppCheck::processFile(const std::string& filename, std::istream& fi
 
             codeWithoutCfg += _settings.append();
 
+            if (_settings.preprocessOnly) {
+                if (codeWithoutCfg.compare(0,5,"#file") == 0)
+                    codeWithoutCfg.insert(0U, "//");
+                std::string::size_type pos = 0;
+                while ((pos = codeWithoutCfg.find("\n#file",pos)) != std::string::npos)
+                    codeWithoutCfg.insert(pos+1U, "//");
+                pos = 0;
+                while ((pos = codeWithoutCfg.find("\n#endfile",pos)) != std::string::npos)
+                    codeWithoutCfg.insert(pos+1U, "//");
+                pos = 0;
+                while ((pos = codeWithoutCfg.find(Preprocessor::macroChar,pos)) != std::string::npos)
+                    codeWithoutCfg[pos] = ' ';
+                reportOut(codeWithoutCfg);
+                continue;
+            }
+
             Tokenizer _tokenizer(&_settings, this);
             if (_settings._showtime != SHOWTIME_NONE)
                 _tokenizer.setTimerResults(&S_timerResults);
diff --git a/lib/settings.cpp b/lib/settings.cpp
index 22f510814..c4109d140 100644
--- a/lib/settings.cpp
+++ b/lib/settings.cpp
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ Settings::Settings()
       _loadAverage(0),
       _exitCode(0),
       _showtime(SHOWTIME_NONE),
+      preprocessOnly(false),
       _maxConfigs(12),
       enforcedLang(None),
       reportProgress(false),
diff --git a/lib/settings.h b/lib/settings.h
index f6979b6f5..8021309e0 100644
--- a/lib/settings.h
+++ b/lib/settings.h
@@ -138,6 +138,9 @@ public:
     /** @brief show timing information (--showtime=file|summary|top5) */
     SHOWTIME_MODES _showtime;
 
+    /** @brief Using -E for debugging purposes */
+    bool preprocessOnly;
+
     /** @brief List of include paths, e.g. "my/includes/" which should be used
         for finding include files inside source files. (-I) */
     std::list<std::string> _includePaths;