diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e10e0be7..cb160173 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ playground for learning and exploring.
 * **MD038** - Spaces inside code span elements
 * **MD039** - Spaces inside link text
 * **MD040** - Fenced code blocks should have a language specified
+* **ignore** - Ignore certain parts of the markdown file (can be `RegExp`, `Function`, `"frontmatter"`), should be used with disabled `MD012`
 
 See [Rules.md](doc/Rules.md) for more details.
 
diff --git a/lib/markdownlint.js b/lib/markdownlint.js
index ae7a6f56..3fac0b9a 100644
--- a/lib/markdownlint.js
+++ b/lib/markdownlint.js
@@ -53,8 +53,24 @@ function uniqueFilterForSorted(value, index, array) {
   return (index === 0) || (value > array[index - 1]);
 }
 
+function ignoreContent(content, config) {
+  if (typeof config.ignore === "function") {
+    // allow custom ignore callback
+    return config.ignore(content);
+  }
+
+  return content.replace(config.ignore, function removeNonLineBreaks(m) {
+    // maintain line breaks
+    return m.replace(/[^\n]+/g, "");
+  });
+}
+
 // Lints a single string
 function lintContent(content, config) {
+  // ignore portions of content
+  if (config.ignore) {
+    content = ignoreContent(content, config);
+  }
   // Parse content into tokens and lines
   var tokens = md.parse(content, {});
   var lines = content.split(shared.newLineRe);
@@ -170,6 +186,18 @@ function markdownlint(options, callback) {
   var config = options.config || { "default": true };
   var synchronous = (callback === markdownlintSynchronousCallback);
   var results = new Results();
+  if (config.ignore) {
+    if (config.ignore === "frontmatter") {
+      // see http://jekyllrb.com/docs/frontmatter/
+      config.ignore = /^---([\s\S]+?)---/;
+    }
+    if (typeof config.ignore !== "function" &&
+      !config.ignore.test &&
+      !config.ignore.exec
+    ) {
+      throw new TypeError("config.ignore must be a RegExp or Function");
+    }
+  }
   // Helper to lint the next file in the array
   function lintFilesArray() {
     var file = files.shift();
diff --git a/test/ignore_frontmatter.json b/test/ignore_frontmatter.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6db88384
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/ignore_frontmatter.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  "default": true,
+  "ignore": "frontmatter",
+  "MD012": false
+}
diff --git a/test/ignore_frontmatter.md b/test/ignore_frontmatter.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0b1bd05c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/ignore_frontmatter.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+front: matter
+---
+
+# Header 1 #
+
+## Header 2 ##