diff --git a/lib/config/default.js b/lib/config/default.js
index 64113c43..1167cb75 100644
--- a/lib/config/default.js
+++ b/lib/config/default.js
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ module.exports = {
   allowGravatar: true,
   allowPDFExport: true,
   openID: false,
+  defaultUseHardbreak: true,
   // linkifyHeaderStyle - How is a header text converted into a link id.
   // Header Example: "3.1. Good Morning my Friend! - Do you have 5$?"
   // * 'keep-case' is the legacy CodiMD value.
diff --git a/lib/config/environment.js b/lib/config/environment.js
index 4defcac6..71b1b984 100644
--- a/lib/config/environment.js
+++ b/lib/config/environment.js
@@ -137,5 +137,6 @@ module.exports = {
   allowGravatar: toBooleanConfig(process.env.CMD_ALLOW_GRAVATAR),
   allowPDFExport: toBooleanConfig(process.env.CMD_ALLOW_PDF_EXPORT),
   openID: toBooleanConfig(process.env.CMD_OPENID),
+  defaultUseHardbreak: toBooleanConfig(process.env.CMD_DEFAULT_USE_HARD_BREAK),
   linkifyHeaderStyle: process.env.CMD_LINKIFY_HEADER_STYLE
 }
diff --git a/lib/web/statusRouter.js b/lib/web/statusRouter.js
index f1de7dbf..ae891ad6 100644
--- a/lib/web/statusRouter.js
+++ b/lib/web/statusRouter.js
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ statusRouter.get('/config', function (req, res) {
     plantumlServer: config.plantuml.server,
     DROPBOX_APP_KEY: config.dropbox.appKey,
     allowedUploadMimeTypes: config.allowedUploadMimeTypes,
+    defaultUseHardbreak: config.defaultUseHardbreak,
     linkifyHeaderStyle: config.linkifyHeaderStyle
   }
   res.set({
diff --git a/public/js/extra.js b/public/js/extra.js
index 1282b801..356e8a49 100644
--- a/public/js/extra.js
+++ b/public/js/extra.js
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ export function isValidURL (str) {
 export function parseMeta (md, edit, view, toc, tocAffix) {
   let lang = null
   let dir = null
-  let breaks = true
+  let breaks = window.defaultUseHardbreak
   if (md && md.meta) {
     const meta = md.meta
     lang = meta.lang
@@ -225,10 +225,10 @@ export function parseMeta (md, edit, view, toc, tocAffix) {
     tocAffix.removeAttr('dir')
   }
   // breaks
-  if (typeof breaks === 'boolean' && !breaks) {
-    md.options.breaks = false
+  if (typeof breaks === 'boolean') {
+    md.options.breaks = breaks
   } else {
-    md.options.breaks = true
+    md.options.breaks = window.defaultUseHardbreak
   }
 }
 
@@ -1030,7 +1030,7 @@ function highlightRender (code, lang) {
 
 export const md = markdownit('default', {
   html: true,
-  breaks: true,
+  breaks: window.defaultUseHardbreak,
   langPrefix: '',
   linkify: true,
   typographer: true,
diff --git a/public/js/lib/common/constant.ejs b/public/js/lib/common/constant.ejs
index 057c92c8..537985f4 100644
--- a/public/js/lib/common/constant.ejs
+++ b/public/js/lib/common/constant.ejs
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ window.plantumlServer = '<%- plantumlServer %>'
 
 window.allowedUploadMimeTypes = <%- JSON.stringify(allowedUploadMimeTypes) %>
 
+window.defaultUseHardbreak = <%- defaultUseHardbreak %>
+
 window.linkifyHeaderStyle = '<%- linkifyHeaderStyle %>'
 
 window.DROPBOX_APP_KEY = '<%- DROPBOX_APP_KEY %>'
diff --git a/public/js/slide.js b/public/js/slide.js
index 9ba3da54..61546339 100644
--- a/public/js/slide.js
+++ b/public/js/slide.js
@@ -49,6 +49,15 @@ const deps = [{
   }
 }]
 
+// options from yaml meta
+const meta = JSON.parse($('#meta').text())
+// breaks
+if (typeof meta.breaks === 'boolean') {
+  md.options.breaks = meta.breaks
+} else {
+  md.options.breaks = window.defaultUseHardbreak
+}
+
 const slideOptions = {
   separator: '^(\r\n?|\n)---(\r\n?|\n)$',
   verticalSeparator: '^(\r\n?|\n)----(\r\n?|\n)$'
@@ -70,8 +79,6 @@ const defaultOptions = {
   dependencies: deps
 }
 
-// options from yaml meta
-const meta = JSON.parse($('#meta').text())
 var options = meta.slideOptions || {}
 
 if (Object.hasOwnProperty.call(options, 'spotlight')) {
@@ -103,12 +110,6 @@ if (meta.dir && typeof meta.dir === 'string' && meta.dir === 'rtl') {
 } else {
   options.rtl = false
 }
-// breaks
-if (typeof meta.breaks === 'boolean' && !meta.breaks) {
-  md.options.breaks = false
-} else {
-  md.options.breaks = true
-}
 
 // options from URL query string
 const queryOptions = Reveal.getQueryHash() || {}