diff --git a/changes/ticket29357 b/changes/ticket29357
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3aab930cd46ea2ec0224adfbafa0e9294d19709c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/ticket29357
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+  o Minor features (dormant mode):
+    - Add a DormantCanceledByStartup option to tell Tor that it should
+      treat a startup event as cancelling any previous dormant state.
+      Integrators should use this option with caution: it should
+      only be used if Tor is being started because of something that the
+      user did, and not if Tor is being automatically started in the
+      background. Closes ticket 29357.
diff --git a/doc/tor.1.txt b/doc/tor.1.txt
index 889b397e51cd8920993cae9c72c2d050c40ee07e..a90d3cfa4d58b37f22a92f8b960c37ddceb7722f 100644
--- a/doc/tor.1.txt
+++ b/doc/tor.1.txt
@@ -1850,6 +1850,21 @@ The following options are useful only for clients (that is, if
     After the first time Tor starts, it begins in dormant mode if it was
     dormant before, and not otherwise. (Default: 0)
 
+[[DormantCanceledByStartup]] **DormantCanceledByStartup** **0**|**1**::
+    By default, Tor starts in active mode if it was active the last time
+    it was shut down, and in dormant mode if it was dormant.  But if
+    this option is true, Tor treats every startup event as user
+    activity, and Tor will never start in Dormant mode, even if it has
+    been unused for a long time on previous runs. (Default: 0)
+ +
+    Note: Packagers and application developers should change the value of
+    this option only with great caution: it has the potential to
+    create spurious traffic on the network.  This option should only
+    be used if Tor is started by an affirmative user activity (like
+    clicking on an applcation or running a command), and not if Tor
+    is launched for some other reason (for example, by a startup
+    process, or by an application that launches itself on every login.)
+
 SERVER OPTIONS
 --------------
 
diff --git a/src/app/config/config.c b/src/app/config/config.c
index 07521ea0ae93a1f73a9fb0314f954afaf4049c23..46dc15b069825eca18fa4c10b69b6ef8e9ece57b 100644
--- a/src/app/config/config.c
+++ b/src/app/config/config.c
@@ -398,6 +398,7 @@ static config_var_t option_vars_[] = {
   V(DormantClientTimeout,         INTERVAL, "24 hours"),
   V(DormantTimeoutDisabledByIdleStreams, BOOL,     "1"),
   V(DormantOnFirstStartup,       BOOL,      "0"),
+  V(DormantCanceledByStartup,    BOOL,      "0"),
   /* DoS circuit creation options. */
   V(DoSCircuitCreationEnabled,   AUTOBOOL, "auto"),
   V(DoSCircuitCreationMinConnections,      UINT, "0"),
diff --git a/src/app/config/or_options_st.h b/src/app/config/or_options_st.h
index 06e11d3c7578bcd43f48772c638ae86d7f8f444b..bd707fd193bef3ddcf1de6189ce0956691c28351 100644
--- a/src/app/config/or_options_st.h
+++ b/src/app/config/or_options_st.h
@@ -1092,6 +1092,11 @@ struct or_options_t {
   /** Boolean: true if Tor should be dormant the first time it starts with
    * a datadirectory; false otherwise. */
   int DormantOnFirstStartup;
+  /**
+   * Boolean: true if Tor should treat every startup event as cancelling
+   * a possible previous dormant state.
+   **/
+  int DormantCanceledByStartup;
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.c b/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.c
index fc5a465ff7f198696502a8ead14fbbedda760d3b..49248885984510fdb3980b7793b681448bd4040a 100644
--- a/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.c
+++ b/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.c
@@ -144,6 +144,10 @@ netstatus_load_from_state(const or_state_t *state, time_t now)
     last_activity = now - 60 * state->MinutesSinceUserActivity;
     participating_on_network = true;
   }
+  if (get_options()->DormantCanceledByStartup) {
+    last_activity = now;
+    participating_on_network = true;
+  }
   reset_user_activity(last_activity);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/test/test_mainloop.c b/src/test/test_mainloop.c
index 2c3449305a862e20d1bc990c5247af076e11ebe0..ed6b8a9b6601997054d497541c86534c8d078f21 100644
--- a/src/test/test_mainloop.c
+++ b/src/test/test_mainloop.c
@@ -317,6 +317,14 @@ test_mainloop_dormant_load_state(void *arg)
   tt_assert(is_participating_on_network());
   tt_i64_op(get_last_user_activity_time(), OP_EQ, start - 123*60);
 
+  // If we would start dormant, but DormantCanceledByStartup is set, then
+  // we start up non-dormant.
+  state->Dormant = 1;
+  get_options_mutable()->DormantCanceledByStartup = 1;
+  netstatus_load_from_state(state, start);
+  tt_assert(is_participating_on_network());
+  tt_i64_op(get_last_user_activity_time(), OP_EQ, start);
+
  done:
   or_state_free(state);
 }