diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index 1edb647..bd0fcef 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -21,3 +21,8 @@ static unsigned int lines      = 0;
  * for example: " /?\"&[]"
  */
 static const char worddelimiters[] = " ";
+
+/* tsv-alt: reverse the order of tab separation.
+ * 0 = display<TAB>output. 1 = output<TAB>display
+ * can be reversed with -r as well */
+static int revtab = 0;
diff --git a/dmenu.1 b/dmenu.1
index 323f93c..39c3492 100644
--- a/dmenu.1
+++ b/dmenu.1
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 dmenu \- dynamic menu
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B dmenu
-.RB [ \-bfiv ]
+.RB [ \-bfivr ]
 .RB [ \-l
 .IR lines ]
 .RB [ \-m
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ prints version information to stdout, then exits.
 .TP
 .BI \-w " windowid"
 embed into windowid.
+.TP
+.B \-r
+tsv-alt: reverse the behavior of tab separation.
+.TP
 .SH USAGE
 dmenu is completely controlled by the keyboard.  Items are selected using the
 arrow keys, page up, page down, home, and end.
diff --git a/dmenu.c b/dmenu.c
index 818313a..9783fc4 100644
--- a/dmenu.c
+++ b/dmenu.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ enum { SchemeNorm, SchemeSel, SchemeOut, SchemeLast }; /* color schemes */
 
 struct item {
 	char *text;
+	char *otext;
 	struct item *left, *right;
 	int out;
 };
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@ cleanup(void)
 	for (i = 0; i < SchemeLast; i++)
 		free(scheme[i]);
 	for (i = 0; items && items[i].text; ++i)
-		free(items[i].text);
+		free(revtab ? items[i].otext : items[i].text);
 	free(items);
 	drw_free(drw);
 	XSync(dpy, False);
@@ -490,7 +491,7 @@ insert:
 		break;
 	case XK_Return:
 	case XK_KP_Enter:
-		puts((sel && !(ev->state & ShiftMask)) ? sel->text : text);
+		puts((sel && !(ev->state & ShiftMask)) ? sel->otext : text);
 		if (!(ev->state & ControlMask)) {
 			cleanup();
 			exit(0);
@@ -560,11 +561,15 @@ readstdin(void)
 				die("cannot realloc %zu bytes:", size);
 		if (line[len - 1] == '\n')
 			line[len - 1] = '\0';
-		items[i].text = line;
+		items[i].text = items[i].otext = line;
+		if ((line = strchr(line, '\t'))) {
+			*line++ = '\0';
+			revtab ? (items[i].text = line) : (items[i].otext = line);
+		}
 		items[i].out = 0;
 	}
 	if (items)
-		items[i].text = NULL;
+		items[i].text = items[i].otext = NULL;
 	lines = MIN(lines, i);
 }
 
@@ -710,7 +715,7 @@ setup(void)
 static void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fputs("usage: dmenu [-bfiv] [-l lines] [-p prompt] [-fn font] [-m monitor]\n"
+	fputs("usage: dmenu [-bfivr] [-l lines] [-p prompt] [-fn font] [-m monitor]\n"
 	      "             [-nb color] [-nf color] [-sb color] [-sf color] [-w windowid]\n", stderr);
 	exit(1);
 }
@@ -733,7 +738,9 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-i")) { /* case-insensitive item matching */
 			fstrncmp = strncasecmp;
 			fstrstr = cistrstr;
-		} else if (i + 1 == argc)
+		} else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-r")) /* reverse the tab separation */
+			revtab = (!revtab);
+		else if (i + 1 == argc)
 			usage();
 		/* these options take one argument */
 		else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-l"))   /* number of lines in vertical list */