diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index dcda53f4d..944c042f4 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 - Message deduplication bugfixes and improvements
 - Continuously retry (in 2s intervals) to fetch login credentials (via [credentials_url](https://conversejs.org/docs/html/configuration.html#credentials-url)) in case of failure
 - Replace `moment` with [DayJS](https://github.com/iamkun/dayjs).
+- New config option [auto_focus](https://conversejs.org/docs/html/configuration.html#auto-focus).
 - New config option [enable_smacks](https://conversejs.org/docs/html/configuration.html#enable-smacks).
 - New config option [muc_show_join_leave_status](https://conversejs.org/docs/html/configuration.html#muc-show-join-leave-status)
 - New config option [message_limit](https://conversejs.org/docs/html/configuration.html#message-limit)
diff --git a/docs/source/configuration.rst b/docs/source/configuration.rst
index 9e092a82b..7d3b1422e 100644
--- a/docs/source/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/source/configuration.rst
@@ -231,6 +231,20 @@ autocomplete_add_contact
 
 Determines whether search suggestions are shown in the "Add Contact" modal.
 
+
+auto_focus
+----------
+
+* Default:  ``true``
+
+If set to ``true``, the textarea for composing chat messages will automatically
+become focused as soon as a chat is opened. This means you don't need to click
+the textarea first before starting to type a message.
+
+For applications where chat is not the main feature, automatic focus of the
+chat box might be undesired.
+
+
 auto_list_rooms
 ---------------
 
diff --git a/src/converse-chatview.js b/src/converse-chatview.js
index ca0a6653e..a5a1f231a 100644
--- a/src/converse-chatview.js
+++ b/src/converse-chatview.js
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ converse.plugins.add('converse-chatview', {
             { __ } = _converse;
 
         _converse.api.settings.update({
+            'auto_focus': true,
             'emoji_image_path': twemoji.default.base,
             'message_limit': 0,
             'show_send_button': false,
@@ -1290,13 +1291,17 @@ converse.plugins.add('converse-chatview', {
                 this.model.clearUnreadMsgCounter();
                 this.setChatState(_converse.ACTIVE);
                 this.scrollDown();
-                this.focus();
+                if (_converse.auto_focus) {
+                    this.focus();
+                }
             },
 
             _show () {
                 /* Inner show method that gets debounced */
                 if (u.isVisible(this.el)) {
-                    this.focus();
+                    if (_converse.auto_focus) {
+                        this.focus();
+                    }
                     return;
                 }
                 u.fadeIn(this.el, _.bind(this.afterShown, this));
diff --git a/src/converse-muc-views.js b/src/converse-muc-views.js
index 3a412ba14..65f5e04e7 100644
--- a/src/converse-muc-views.js
+++ b/src/converse-muc-views.js
@@ -684,7 +684,9 @@ converse.plugins.add('converse-muc-views', {
 
             show () {
                 if (u.isVisible(this.el)) {
-                    this.focus();
+                    if (_converse.auto_focus) {
+                        this.focus();
+                    }
                     return;
                 }
                 // Override from converse-chatview in order to not use
@@ -704,7 +706,9 @@ converse.plugins.add('converse-muc-views', {
                 } else if (conn_status === converse.ROOMSTATUS.ENTERED) {
                     this.hideSpinner();
                     this.setChatState(_converse.ACTIVE);
-                    this.focus();
+                    if (_converse.auto_focus) {
+                        this.focus();
+                    }
                 } else if (conn_status === converse.ROOMSTATUS.DISCONNECTED) {
                     this.showDisconnectMessage();
                 } else if (conn_status === converse.ROOMSTATUS.DESTROYED) {