diff --git a/_pytest/config.py b/_pytest/config.py
index 761b0e52e..70e19b1d1 100644
--- a/_pytest/config.py
+++ b/_pytest/config.py
@@ -502,13 +502,14 @@ class Parser:
         """ register an ini-file option.
 
         :name: name of the ini-variable
-        :type: type of the variable, can be ``pathlist``, ``args`` or ``linelist``.
+        :type: type of the variable, can be ``pathlist``, ``args``, ``linelist``
+               or ``bool``.
         :default: default value if no ini-file option exists but is queried.
 
         The value of ini-variables can be retrieved via a call to
         :py:func:`config.getini(name) <_pytest.config.Config.getini>`.
         """
-        assert type in (None, "pathlist", "args", "linelist")
+        assert type in (None, "pathlist", "args", "linelist", "bool")
         self._inidict[name] = (help, type, default)
         self._ininames.append(name)
 
@@ -1011,6 +1012,8 @@ class Config(object):
             return shlex.split(value)
         elif type == "linelist":
             return [t for t in map(lambda x: x.strip(), value.split("\n")) if t]
+        elif type == "bool":
+            return bool(_strtobool(value.strip()))
         else:
             assert type is None
             return value
@@ -1164,3 +1167,21 @@ def create_terminal_writer(config, *args, **kwargs):
     if config.option.color == 'no':
         tw.hasmarkup = False
     return tw
+
+
+def _strtobool(val):
+    """Convert a string representation of truth to true (1) or false (0).
+
+    True values are 'y', 'yes', 't', 'true', 'on', and '1'; false values
+    are 'n', 'no', 'f', 'false', 'off', and '0'.  Raises ValueError if
+    'val' is anything else.
+
+    .. note:: copied from distutils.util
+    """
+    val = val.lower()
+    if val in ('y', 'yes', 't', 'true', 'on', '1'):
+        return 1
+    elif val in ('n', 'no', 'f', 'false', 'off', '0'):
+        return 0
+    else:
+        raise ValueError("invalid truth value %r" % (val,))
diff --git a/_pytest/skipping.py b/_pytest/skipping.py
index 5b779c98b..1b1c68267 100644
--- a/_pytest/skipping.py
+++ b/_pytest/skipping.py
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
            action="store_true", dest="runxfail", default=False,
            help="run tests even if they are marked xfail")
 
+    parser.addini("xfail_strict", "default for the strict parameter of xfail "
+                                  "markers when not given explicitly (default: "
+                                  "False)",
+                                  default=False,
+                                  type="bool")
+
 
 def pytest_configure(config):
     if config.option.runxfail:
@@ -178,6 +184,18 @@ def pytest_runtest_setup(item):
 
 def pytest_pyfunc_call(pyfuncitem):
     check_xfail_no_run(pyfuncitem)
+    evalxfail = pyfuncitem._evalxfail
+    if evalxfail.istrue() and _is_strict_xfail(evalxfail, pyfuncitem.config):
+        del pyfuncitem._evalxfail
+        explanation = evalxfail.getexplanation()
+        pytest.fail('[XPASS(strict)] ' + explanation,
+                    pytrace=False)
+
+
+def _is_strict_xfail(evalxfail, config):
+    default = config.getini('xfail_strict')
+    return evalxfail.get('strict', default)
+
 
 def check_xfail_no_run(item):
     if not item.config.option.runxfail:
diff --git a/doc/en/skipping.rst b/doc/en/skipping.rst
index 245a7d6eb..2a72f1836 100644
--- a/doc/en/skipping.rst
+++ b/doc/en/skipping.rst
@@ -32,12 +32,17 @@ Marking a test function to be skipped
 .. versionadded:: 2.9
 
 The simplest way to skip a test function is to mark it with the `skip` decorator
-which may be passed an optional `reason`:
+which may be passed an optional ``reason``:
+
+.. code-block:: python
 
     @pytest.mark.skip(reason="no way of currently testing this")
     def test_the_unknown():
         ...
 
+``skipif``
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
 .. versionadded:: 2.0, 2.4
 
 If you wish to skip something conditionally then you can use `skipif` instead.
@@ -120,7 +125,7 @@ Mark a test function as expected to fail
 -------------------------------------------------------
 
 You can use the ``xfail`` marker to indicate that you
-expect the test to fail::
+expect a test to fail::
 
     @pytest.mark.xfail
     def test_function():
@@ -128,14 +133,36 @@ expect the test to fail::
 
 This test will be run but no traceback will be reported
 when it fails. Instead terminal reporting will list it in the
-"expected to fail" or "unexpectedly passing" sections.
+"expected to fail" (``XFAIL``) or "unexpectedly passing" (``XPASS``) sections.
 
-By specifying on the commandline::
+``strict`` parameter
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-    pytest --runxfail
+.. versionadded:: 2.9
 
-you can force the running and reporting of an ``xfail`` marked test
-as if it weren't marked at all.
+Both ``XFAIL`` and ``XPASS`` don't fail the test suite, unless the ``strict`` keyword-only
+parameter is passed as ``True``:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    @pytest.mark.xfail(strict=True)
+    def test_function():
+        ...
+
+
+This will make ``XPASS`` ("unexpectedly passing") results from this test to fail the test suite.
+
+You can change the default value of the ``strict`` parameter using the
+``xfail_strict`` ini option:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+
+    [pytest]
+    xfail_strict=true
+
+
+``reason`` parameter
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 As with skipif_ you can also mark your expectation of a failure
 on a particular platform::
@@ -145,14 +172,51 @@ on a particular platform::
     def test_function():
         ...
 
+
+``raises`` parameter
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
 If you want to be more specific as to why the test is failing, you can specify
-a single exception, or a list of exceptions, in the ``raises`` argument. Then
-the test will be reported as a regular failure if it fails with an
+a single exception, or a list of exceptions, in the ``raises`` argument.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    @pytest.mark.xfail(raises=RuntimeError)
+    def test_function():
+        ...
+
+Then the test will be reported as a regular failure if it fails with an
 exception not mentioned in ``raises``.
 
-You can furthermore prevent the running of an "xfail" test or
-specify a reason such as a bug ID or similar.  Here is
-a simple test file with the several usages:
+``run`` parameter
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+If a test should be marked as xfail and reported as such but should not be
+even executed, use the ``run`` parameter as ``False``:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    @pytest.mark.xfail(run=False)
+    def test_function():
+        ...
+
+This is specially useful for marking crashing tests for later inspection.
+
+
+Ignoring xfail marks
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+By specifying on the commandline::
+
+    pytest --runxfail
+
+you can force the running and reporting of an ``xfail`` marked test
+as if it weren't marked at all.
+
+Examples
+~~~~~~~~
+
+Here is a simple test file with the several usages:
 
 .. literalinclude:: example/xfail_demo.py
 
@@ -181,6 +245,19 @@ Running it with the report-on-xfail option gives this output::
 
     ======= 7 xfailed in 0.12 seconds ========
 
+
+xfail signature summary
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Here's the signature of the ``xfail`` marker, using Python 3 keyword-only
+arguments syntax:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    def xfail(condition=None, *, reason=None, raises=None, run=True, strict=False):
+
+
+
 .. _`skip/xfail with parametrize`:
 
 Skip/xfail with parametrize
@@ -189,19 +266,19 @@ Skip/xfail with parametrize
 It is possible to apply markers like skip and xfail to individual
 test instances when using parametrize::
 
-     import pytest
+    import pytest
 
-     @pytest.mark.parametrize(("n", "expected"), [
-         (1, 2),
-	 pytest.mark.xfail((1, 0)),
-	 pytest.mark.xfail(reason="some bug")((1, 3)),
-         (2, 3),
-         (3, 4),
-         (4, 5),
-         pytest.mark.skipif("sys.version_info >= (3,0)")((10, 11)),
-     ])
-     def test_increment(n, expected):
-	 assert n + 1 == expected
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(("n", "expected"), [
+        (1, 2),
+    pytest.mark.xfail((1, 0)),
+	pytest.mark.xfail(reason="some bug")((1, 3)),
+        (2, 3),
+        (3, 4),
+        (4, 5),
+        pytest.mark.skipif("sys.version_info >= (3,0)")((10, 11)),
+    ])
+    def test_increment(n, expected):
+        assert n + 1 == expected
 
 
 Imperative xfail from within a test or setup function
diff --git a/testing/test_config.py b/testing/test_config.py
index 5a984b35d..92c9bdb8b 100644
--- a/testing/test_config.py
+++ b/testing/test_config.py
@@ -231,6 +231,21 @@ class TestConfigAPI:
         l = config.getini("a2")
         assert l == []
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize('str_val, bool_val',
+                             [('True', True), ('no', False), ('no-ini', True)])
+    def test_addini_bool(self, testdir, str_val, bool_val):
+        testdir.makeconftest("""
+            def pytest_addoption(parser):
+                parser.addini("strip", "", type="bool", default=True)
+        """)
+        if str_val != 'no-ini':
+            testdir.makeini("""
+                [pytest]
+                strip=%s
+            """ % str_val)
+        config = testdir.parseconfig()
+        assert config.getini("strip") is bool_val
+
     def test_addinivalue_line_existing(self, testdir):
         testdir.makeconftest("""
             def pytest_addoption(parser):
diff --git a/testing/test_skipping.py b/testing/test_skipping.py
index 66bfd68c2..8e43914f0 100644
--- a/testing/test_skipping.py
+++ b/testing/test_skipping.py
@@ -350,6 +350,58 @@ class TestXFail:
             matchline,
         ])
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize('strict', [True, False])
+    def test_strict_xfail(self, testdir, strict):
+        p = testdir.makepyfile("""
+            import pytest
+
+            @pytest.mark.xfail(reason='unsupported feature', strict=%s)
+            def test_foo():
+                pass
+        """ % strict)
+        result = testdir.runpytest(p, '-rxX')
+        if strict:
+            result.stdout.fnmatch_lines([
+                '*test_foo*',
+                '*XPASS(strict)*unsupported feature*',
+            ])
+        else:
+            result.stdout.fnmatch_lines([
+                '*test_strict_xfail*',
+                'XPASS test_strict_xfail.py::test_foo unsupported feature',
+            ])
+        assert result.ret == (1 if strict else 0)
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize('strict', [True, False])
+    def test_strict_xfail_condition(self, testdir, strict):
+        p = testdir.makepyfile("""
+            import pytest
+
+            @pytest.mark.xfail(False, reason='unsupported feature', strict=%s)
+            def test_foo():
+                pass
+        """ % strict)
+        result = testdir.runpytest(p, '-rxX')
+        result.stdout.fnmatch_lines('*1 passed*')
+        assert result.ret == 0
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize('strict_val', ['true', 'false'])
+    def test_strict_xfail_default_from_file(self, testdir, strict_val):
+        testdir.makeini('''
+            [pytest]
+            xfail_strict = %s
+        ''' % strict_val)
+        p = testdir.makepyfile("""
+            import pytest
+            @pytest.mark.xfail(reason='unsupported feature')
+            def test_foo():
+                pass
+        """)
+        result = testdir.runpytest(p, '-rxX')
+        strict = strict_val == 'true'
+        result.stdout.fnmatch_lines('*1 failed*' if strict else '*1 xpassed*')
+        assert result.ret == (1 if strict else 0)
+
 
 class TestXFailwithSetupTeardown:
     def test_failing_setup_issue9(self, testdir):