diff --git a/config/locales/server.en.yml b/config/locales/server.en.yml
index a3ae889c646..426ae9289a6 100644
--- a/config/locales/server.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/server.en.yml
@@ -1308,6 +1308,7 @@ en:
     reply_by_email_enabled: "Enable replying to topics via email."
     reply_by_email_address: "Template for reply by email incoming email address, for example: %{reply_key}@reply.example.com or replies+%{reply_key}@example.com"
     alternative_reply_by_email_addresses: "List of alternative templates for reply by email incoming email addresses. Example: %{reply_key}@reply.example.com|replies+%{reply_key}@example.com"
+    incoming_email_prefer_html: "Use the HTML instead of the text for incoming email."
 
     disable_emails: "Prevent Discourse from sending any kind of emails"
 
diff --git a/config/site_settings.yml b/config/site_settings.yml
index 6c916061601..826f0a7a145 100644
--- a/config/site_settings.yml
+++ b/config/site_settings.yml
@@ -646,6 +646,7 @@ email:
   pop3_polling_username: ''
   pop3_polling_password: ''
   log_mail_processing_failures: false
+  incoming_email_prefer_html: false
   email_in:
     default: false
     client: true
diff --git a/lib/email/receiver.rb b/lib/email/receiver.rb
index f87ca1bab64..562c232443a 100644
--- a/lib/email/receiver.rb
+++ b/lib/email/receiver.rb
@@ -188,17 +188,21 @@ module Email
         text = fix_charset(@mail)
       end
 
-      if text.present?
+      text, elided_text = if text.present?
         text = trim_discourse_markers(text)
-        text, elided = EmailReplyTrimmer.trim(text, true)
-        return [text, elided]
+        EmailReplyTrimmer.trim(text, true)
       end
 
-      if html.present?
+      markdown, elided_markdown = if html.present?
         markdown = HtmlToMarkdown.new(html).to_markdown
         markdown = trim_discourse_markers(markdown)
-        markdown, elided = EmailReplyTrimmer.trim(markdown, true)
-        return [markdown, elided]
+        EmailReplyTrimmer.trim(markdown, true)
+      end
+
+      if text.blank? || (SiteSetting.incoming_email_prefer_html && markdown.present?)
+        return [markdown, elided_markdown]
+      else
+        return [text, elided_text]
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/components/email/receiver_spec.rb b/spec/components/email/receiver_spec.rb
index e00fcc353a8..7895e6f4e3e 100644
--- a/spec/components/email/receiver_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/email/receiver_spec.rb
@@ -174,6 +174,18 @@ describe Email::Receiver do
       expect(topic.posts.last.raw).to eq("This is the *text* part.")
     end
 
+    it "prefers html over text when site setting is enabled" do
+      SiteSetting.incoming_email_prefer_html = true
+      expect { process(:text_and_html_reply) }.to change { topic.posts.count }
+      expect(topic.posts.last.raw).to eq('This is the **html** part.')
+    end
+
+    it "uses text when prefer_html site setting is enabled but no html is available" do
+      SiteSetting.incoming_email_prefer_html = true
+      expect { process(:text_reply) }.to change { topic.posts.count }
+      expect(topic.posts.last.raw).to eq("This is a text reply :)")
+    end
+
     it "removes the 'on <date>, <contact> wrote' quoting line" do
       expect { process(:on_date_contact_wrote) }.to change { topic.posts.count }
       expect(topic.posts.last.raw).to eq("This is the actual reply.")