diff --git a/command/agent/command.go b/command/agent/command.go
index a5f59bee9b..314b60612d 100644
--- a/command/agent/command.go
+++ b/command/agent/command.go
@@ -643,10 +643,11 @@ func (c *Command) Run(args []string) int {
 	}
 
 	// Enable child process reaping
-	if !config.DisableReap && (os.Getpid() == 1) {
+	if (config.Reap != nil && *config.Reap) || (config.Reap == nil && os.Getpid() == 1) {
 		logger := c.agent.logger
 		if !reap.IsSupported() {
-			logger.Printf("[WARN] Running as PID 1 but child process reaping is not supported on this platform, disabling")
+			c.Ui.Error("Child process reaping is not supported on this platform (set reap=false)")
+			return 1
 		} else {
 			logger.Printf("[DEBUG] Automatically reaping child processes")
 
diff --git a/command/agent/config.go b/command/agent/config.go
index 50db3244f2..76149d31f8 100644
--- a/command/agent/config.go
+++ b/command/agent/config.go
@@ -423,11 +423,11 @@ type Config struct {
 	SessionTTLMin    time.Duration `mapstructure:"-"`
 	SessionTTLMinRaw string        `mapstructure:"session_ttl_min"`
 
-	// DisableReap controls automatic reaping of child processes, useful if
-	// running as PID 1 in a Docker container. This defaults to false, and
-	// reaping will be automatically enabled if this is false and Consul's
-	// PID is 1.
-	DisableReap bool `mapstructure:"disable_reap"`
+	// Reap controls automatic reaping of child processes, useful if running
+	// as PID 1 in a Docker container. This defaults to nil which will make
+	// Consul reap only if it detects it's running as PID 1. If non-nil,
+	// then this will be used to decide if reaping is enabled.
+	Reap *bool `mapstructure:"reap"`
 }
 
 // UnixSocketPermissions contains information about a unix socket, and
@@ -1146,8 +1146,8 @@ func MergeConfig(a, b *Config) *Config {
 	result.RetryJoinWan = append(result.RetryJoinWan, a.RetryJoinWan...)
 	result.RetryJoinWan = append(result.RetryJoinWan, b.RetryJoinWan...)
 
-	if b.DisableReap {
-		result.DisableReap = true
+	if b.Reap != nil {
+		result.Reap = b.Reap
 	}
 
 	return &result
diff --git a/command/agent/config_test.go b/command/agent/config_test.go
index 8ce8236adf..99a5b398ea 100644
--- a/command/agent/config_test.go
+++ b/command/agent/config_test.go
@@ -778,15 +778,25 @@ func TestDecodeConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: %s %#v", config.SessionTTLMin.String(), config)
 	}
 
-	// DisableReap
-	input = `{"disable_reap": true}`
+	// Reap
+	input = `{"reap": true}`
 	config, err = DecodeConfig(bytes.NewReader([]byte(input)))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
 	}
 
-	if config.DisableReap != true {
-		t.Fatalf("bad: reap not disabled: %#v", config)
+	if config.Reap == nil || *config.Reap != true {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: reap not enabled: %#v", config)
+	}
+
+	input = `{}`
+	config, err = DecodeConfig(bytes.NewReader([]byte(input)))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if config.Reap != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: reap not tri-stated: %#v", config)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1168,7 +1178,6 @@ func TestMergeConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		CheckUpdateIntervalRaw: "8m",
 		RetryIntervalRaw:       "10s",
 		RetryIntervalWanRaw:    "10s",
-		DisableReap:            false,
 	}
 
 	b := &Config{
@@ -1278,8 +1287,9 @@ func TestMergeConfig(t *testing.T) {
 			RPC:        &net.TCPAddr{},
 			RPCRaw:     "127.0.0.5:1233",
 		},
-		DisableReap: true,
+		Reap: new(bool),
 	}
+	*b.Reap = true
 
 	c := MergeConfig(a, b)
 
diff --git a/website/source/docs/agent/options.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/agent/options.html.markdown
index aac394f32b..049d434635 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/agent/options.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/agent/options.html.markdown
@@ -407,10 +407,6 @@ definitions support being updated during a reload.
   `disable_anonymous_signature`</a> Disables providing an anonymous signature for de-duplication
   with the update check. See [`disable_update_check`](#disable_update_check).
 
-* <a name="disable_reap"></a><a href="#disable_reap">
-  `disable_reap`</a> will prevent Consul from automatically reaping child processes if it
-  detects it is running as PID 1, such as in a Docker container.
-
 * <a name="disable_remote_exec"></a><a href="#disable_remote_exec">`disable_remote_exec`</a>
   Disables support for remote execution. When set to true, the agent will ignore any incoming
   remote exec requests.
@@ -508,6 +504,11 @@ definitions support being updated during a reload.
 * <a name="protocol"></a><a href="#protocol">`protocol`</a> Equivalent to the
   [`-protocol` command-line flag](#_protocol).
 
+* <a name="reap"></a><a href="#reap">`reap`</a> controls Consul's automatic reaping of child processes, which
+  is useful if Consul is running as PID 1 in a Docker container. If this isn't specified, then Consul will
+  automatically reap child processes if it detects it is running as PID 1. If this is specified, then it
+  controls reaping regardless of Consul's PID.
+
 * <a name="recursor"></a><a href="#recursor">`recursor`</a> Provides a single recursor address.
   This has been deprecated, and the value is appended to the [`recursors`](#recursors) list for
   backwards compatibility.