diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index 1edb647..7bf5f4a 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ static const char *colors[SchemeLast][2] = {
 	[SchemeNorm] = { "#bbbbbb", "#222222" },
 	[SchemeSel] = { "#eeeeee", "#005577" },
 	[SchemeOut] = { "#000000", "#00ffff" },
+	[SchemeCursor] = { "#222222", "#bbbbbb"},
 };
 /* -l option; if nonzero, dmenu uses vertical list with given number of lines */
 static unsigned int lines      = 0;
@@ -21,3 +22,15 @@ static unsigned int lines      = 0;
  * for example: " /?\"&[]"
  */
 static const char worddelimiters[] = " ";
+
+/*
+ * -vi option; if nonzero, vi mode is always enabled and can be
+ * accessed with the global_esc keysym + mod mask
+ */
+static unsigned int vi_mode = 1;
+static unsigned int start_mode = 0;			/* mode to use when -vi is passed. 0 = insert mode, 1 = normal mode */
+static Key global_esc = { XK_n, Mod1Mask };	/* escape key when vi mode is not enabled explicitly */
+static Key quit_keys[] = {
+	/* keysym	modifier */
+	{ XK_q,		0 }
+};
diff --git a/dmenu.c b/dmenu.c
index 62f1089..8066271 100644
--- a/dmenu.c
+++ b/dmenu.c
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 #define TEXTW(X)              (drw_fontset_getwidth(drw, (X)) + lrpad)
 
 /* enums */
-enum { SchemeNorm, SchemeSel, SchemeOut, SchemeLast }; /* color schemes */
+enum { SchemeNorm, SchemeSel, SchemeOut, SchemeCursor, SchemeLast }; /* color schemes */
 
 struct item {
 	char *text;
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ struct item {
 	int out;
 };
 
+typedef struct {
+	KeySym ksym;
+	unsigned int state;
+} Key;
+
 static char text[BUFSIZ] = "";
 static char *embed;
 static int bh, mw, mh;
@@ -44,6 +49,7 @@ static struct item *items = NULL;
 static struct item *matches, *matchend;
 static struct item *prev, *curr, *next, *sel;
 static int mon = -1, screen;
+static unsigned int using_vi_mode = 0;
 
 static Atom clip, utf8;
 static Display *dpy;
@@ -163,7 +169,15 @@ drawmenu(void)
 	drw_text(drw, x, 0, w, bh, lrpad / 2, text, 0);
 
 	curpos = TEXTW(text) - TEXTW(&text[cursor]);
-	if ((curpos += lrpad / 2 - 1) < w) {
+	curpos += lrpad / 2 - 1;
+	if (using_vi_mode && text[0] != '\0') {
+		drw_setscheme(drw, scheme[SchemeCursor]);
+		char vi_char[] = {text[cursor], '\0'};
+		drw_text(drw, x + curpos, 0, TEXTW(vi_char) - lrpad, bh, 0, vi_char, 0);
+	} else if (using_vi_mode) {
+		drw_setscheme(drw, scheme[SchemeNorm]);
+		drw_rect(drw, x + curpos, 2, lrpad / 2, bh - 4, 1, 0);
+	} else if (curpos < w) {
 		drw_setscheme(drw, scheme[SchemeNorm]);
 		drw_rect(drw, x + curpos, 2, 2, bh - 4, 1, 0);
 	}
@@ -321,6 +335,181 @@ movewordedge(int dir)
 	}
 }
 
+static void
+vi_keypress(KeySym ksym, const XKeyEvent *ev)
+{
+	static const size_t quit_len = LENGTH(quit_keys);
+	if (ev->state & ControlMask) {
+		switch(ksym) {
+		/* movement */
+		case XK_d: /* fallthrough */
+			if (next) {
+				sel = curr = next;
+				calcoffsets();
+				goto draw;
+			} else
+				ksym = XK_G;
+			break;
+		case XK_u:
+			if (prev) {
+				sel = curr = prev;
+				calcoffsets();
+				goto draw;
+			} else
+				ksym = XK_g;
+			break;
+		case XK_p: /* fallthrough */
+		case XK_P: break;
+		case XK_c:
+			cleanup();
+			exit(1);
+		case XK_Return: /* fallthrough */
+		case XK_KP_Enter: break;
+		default: return;
+		}
+	}
+
+	switch(ksym) {
+	/* movement */
+	case XK_0:
+		cursor = 0;
+		break;
+	case XK_dollar:
+		if (text[cursor + 1] != '\0') {
+			cursor = strlen(text) - 1;
+			break;
+		}
+		break;
+	case XK_b:
+		movewordedge(-1);
+		break;
+	case XK_e:
+		cursor = nextrune(+1);
+		movewordedge(+1);
+		if (text[cursor] == '\0')
+			--cursor;
+		else
+			cursor = nextrune(-1);
+		break;
+	case XK_g:
+		if (sel == matches) {
+			break;
+		}
+		sel = curr = matches;
+		calcoffsets();
+		break;
+	case XK_G:
+		if (next) {
+			/* jump to end of list and position items in reverse */
+			curr = matchend;
+			calcoffsets();
+			curr = prev;
+			calcoffsets();
+			while (next && (curr = curr->right))
+				calcoffsets();
+		}
+		sel = matchend;
+		break;
+	case XK_h:
+		if (cursor)
+			cursor = nextrune(-1);
+		break;
+	case XK_j:
+		if (sel && sel->right && (sel = sel->right) == next) {
+			curr = next;
+			calcoffsets();
+		}
+		break;
+	case XK_k:
+		if (sel && sel->left && (sel = sel->left)->right == curr) {
+			curr = prev;
+			calcoffsets();
+		}
+		break;
+	case XK_l:
+		if (text[cursor] != '\0' && text[cursor + 1] != '\0')
+			cursor = nextrune(+1);
+		else if (text[cursor] == '\0' && cursor)
+			--cursor;
+		break;
+	case XK_w:
+		movewordedge(+1);
+		if (text[cursor] != '\0' && text[cursor + 1] != '\0')
+			cursor = nextrune(+1);
+		else if (cursor)
+			--cursor;
+		break;
+	/* insertion */
+	case XK_a:
+		cursor = nextrune(+1);
+		/* fallthrough */
+	case XK_i:
+		using_vi_mode = 0;
+		break;
+	case XK_A:
+		if (text[cursor] != '\0')
+			cursor = strlen(text);
+		using_vi_mode = 0;
+		break;
+	case XK_I:
+		cursor = using_vi_mode = 0;
+		break;
+	case XK_p:
+		if (text[cursor] != '\0')
+			cursor = nextrune(+1);
+		XConvertSelection(dpy, (ev->state & ControlMask) ? clip : XA_PRIMARY,
+							utf8, utf8, win, CurrentTime);
+		return;
+	case XK_P:
+		XConvertSelection(dpy, (ev->state & ControlMask) ? clip : XA_PRIMARY,
+							utf8, utf8, win, CurrentTime);
+		return;
+	/* deletion */
+	case XK_D:
+		text[cursor] = '\0';
+		if (cursor)
+			cursor = nextrune(-1);
+		match();
+		break;
+	case XK_x:
+		cursor = nextrune(+1);
+		insert(NULL, nextrune(-1) - cursor);
+		if (text[cursor] == '\0' && text[0] != '\0')
+			--cursor;
+		match();
+		break;
+	/* misc. */
+	case XK_Return:
+	case XK_KP_Enter:
+		puts((sel && !(ev->state & ShiftMask)) ? sel->text : text);
+		if (!(ev->state & ControlMask)) {
+			cleanup();
+			exit(0);
+		}
+		if (sel)
+			sel->out = 1;
+		break;
+	case XK_Tab:
+		if (!sel)
+			return;
+		strncpy(text, sel->text, sizeof text - 1);
+		text[sizeof text - 1] = '\0';
+		cursor = strlen(text) - 1;
+		match();
+		break;
+	default:
+		for (size_t i = 0; i < quit_len; ++i)
+			if (quit_keys[i].ksym == ksym &&
+				(quit_keys[i].state & ev->state) == quit_keys[i].state) {
+				cleanup();
+				exit(1);
+			}
+	}
+
+draw:
+	drawmenu();
+}
+
 static void
 keypress(XKeyEvent *ev)
 {
@@ -340,6 +529,18 @@ keypress(XKeyEvent *ev)
 		break;
 	}
 
+	if (using_vi_mode) {
+		vi_keypress(ksym, ev);
+		return;
+	} else if (vi_mode &&
+			   (ksym == global_esc.ksym &&
+				(ev->state & global_esc.state) == global_esc.state)) {
+		using_vi_mode = 1;
+		if (cursor)
+			cursor = nextrune(-1);
+		goto draw;
+	}
+
 	if (ev->state & ControlMask) {
 		switch(ksym) {
 		case XK_a: ksym = XK_Home;      break;
@@ -543,6 +744,8 @@ paste(void)
 		insert(p, (q = strchr(p, '\n')) ? q - p : (ssize_t)strlen(p));
 		XFree(p);
 	}
+	if (using_vi_mode && text[cursor] == '\0')
+		--cursor;
 	drawmenu();
 }
 
@@ -738,6 +941,11 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-i")) { /* case-insensitive item matching */
 			fstrncmp = strncasecmp;
 			fstrstr = cistrstr;
+		} else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-vi")) {
+			vi_mode = 1;
+			using_vi_mode = start_mode;
+			global_esc.ksym = XK_Escape;
+			global_esc.state = 0;
 		} else if (i + 1 == argc)
 			usage();
 		/* these options take one argument */