diff --git a/lib/config.go b/lib/config.go
index bc47347..4ffc972 100644
--- a/lib/config.go
+++ b/lib/config.go
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 package main
 
 type Config struct {
-	BestFirst  bool
-	Limit      int
-	NoStemming bool
-	NoStoplist bool
-	OmitQuery  bool
-	ShowScores bool
-	Verbose    bool
+	BestFirst      bool
+	FollowSymlinks bool
+	Limit          int
+	NoStemming     bool
+	NoStoplist     bool
+	OmitQuery      bool
+	ShowScores     bool
+	Verbose        bool
 }
diff --git a/lib/corpus.go b/lib/corpus.go
index 1b95abd..bdaad26 100644
--- a/lib/corpus.go
+++ b/lib/corpus.go
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func ParseCorpus(query *Document, paths []string, config *Config) *Corpus {
 			}
 
 			// Don't parse directories or symlinks (or the queried file, if so configured)
-			if xinfo.Type().IsRegular() && !(config.OmitQuery && sameFile(query.Path, xpath)) {
+			if isParsableFile(xinfo, config) && !(config.OmitQuery && sameFile(query.Path, xpath)) {
 				doc, err := NewDocument(xpath, config)
 
 				if err != nil {
@@ -71,6 +71,13 @@ func ParseCorpus(query *Document, paths []string, config *Config) *Corpus {
 	return NewCorpus(documents)
 }
 
+func isParsableFile(info fs.DirEntry, config *Config) bool {
+	// Return true if this is either a regular file OR if it's a symlink that the
+	// user's chosen to include
+	return info.Type().IsRegular() ||
+		(config.FollowSymlinks && (info.Type()&os.ModeSymlink != 0))
+}
+
 func sameFile(a, b string) bool {
 	aFileInfo, err := os.Stat(a)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/lib/main.go b/lib/main.go
index 4a60fba..8d62b0b 100644
--- a/lib/main.go
+++ b/lib/main.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 func main() {
 	bestFirstFlag := flag.Bool("best-first", false, "print best matches first")
+	followSymlinksFlag := flag.Bool("follow-symlinks", false, "included symlinked files in results")
 	limitFlag := flag.Int("limit", 0, "return at most `limit` results")
 	noStemmingFlag := flag.Bool("no-stemming", false, "don't perform stemming on words")
 	noStoplistFlag := flag.Bool("no-stoplist", false, "don't omit common words by using a stoplist")
@@ -20,13 +21,14 @@ func main() {
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	config := Config{
-		BestFirst:  *bestFirstFlag,
-		Limit:      *limitFlag,
-		NoStemming: *noStemmingFlag,
-		NoStoplist: *noStoplistFlag,
-		OmitQuery:  *omitQueryFlag,
-		ShowScores: *showScoresFlag,
-		Verbose:    *verboseFlag,
+		BestFirst:      *bestFirstFlag,
+		FollowSymlinks: *followSymlinksFlag,
+		Limit:          *limitFlag,
+		NoStemming:     *noStemmingFlag,
+		NoStoplist:     *noStoplistFlag,
+		OmitQuery:      *omitQueryFlag,
+		ShowScores:     *showScoresFlag,
+		Verbose:        *verboseFlag,
 	}
 
 	if !config.Verbose {
diff --git a/man/docsim.1 b/man/docsim.1
index fbbbb65..0ee1939 100644
--- a/man/docsim.1
+++ b/man/docsim.1
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ docsim --query main.c --no-stoplist --no-stemming **/*.c
 When enabled, docsim will sort results from best to worst, instead of the
 default (worst to best).
 .TP
+.BR \-\-follow\-symlinks
+Parse symbolic links in the search path. Default behavior is to ignore symlinks.
+.TP
 .BR \-\-limit " " \fINUM\fR
 Show no more that the best NUM results.
 .TP