diff --git a/plugins/out_forward/forward.c b/plugins/out_forward/forward.c
index 885b420effe..8cc2ca2cc76 100644
--- a/plugins/out_forward/forward.c
+++ b/plugins/out_forward/forward.c
@@ -839,6 +839,13 @@ static int config_set_properties(struct flb_upstream_node *node,
         fc->send_options = flb_utils_bool(tmp);
     }
 
+    /* add_option -> extra_options: if the user has defined 'add_option'
+     * we need to enable the 'send_options' flag
+     */
+    if (fc->extra_options && mk_list_size(fc->extra_options) > 0) {
+        fc->send_options = FLB_TRUE;
+    }
+
     /* require ack response  (implies send_options) */
     tmp = config_get_property("require_ack_response", node, ctx);
     if (tmp) {
@@ -1785,7 +1792,14 @@ static struct flb_config_map config_map[] = {
     {
      FLB_CONFIG_MAP_BOOL, "fluentd_compat", "false",
      0, FLB_TRUE, offsetof(struct flb_forward_config, fluentd_compat),
-     "Send cmetrics and ctreaces with Fluentd compatible format"
+     "Send metrics and traces with Fluentd compatible format"
+    },
+
+    {
+     FLB_CONFIG_MAP_SLIST_2, "add_option", NULL,
+     FLB_CONFIG_MAP_MULT, FLB_TRUE, offsetof(struct flb_forward_config, extra_options),
+     "Set an extra Forward protocol option. This is an advance feature, use it only for "
+     "very specific use-cases."
     },
 
     /* EOF */
diff --git a/plugins/out_forward/forward.h b/plugins/out_forward/forward.h
index f0abcfcd9b2..8e77e6e111d 100644
--- a/plugins/out_forward/forward.h
+++ b/plugins/out_forward/forward.h
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ struct flb_forward_config {
     int time_as_integer;      /* Use backward compatible timestamp ? */
     int fluentd_compat;       /* Use Fluentd compatible payload for
                                * metrics and ctraces */
+
+    /* add extra options to the Forward payload (advanced) */
+    struct mk_list *extra_options;
+
     int fwd_retain_metadata;  /* Do not drop metadata in forward mode */
 
     /* config */
diff --git a/plugins/out_forward/forward_format.c b/plugins/out_forward/forward_format.c
index 85a9c5d3f09..48dedd862d6 100644
--- a/plugins/out_forward/forward_format.c
+++ b/plugins/out_forward/forward_format.c
@@ -93,7 +93,11 @@ static int append_options(struct flb_forward *ctx,
     char *chunk = NULL;
     uint8_t checksum[64];
     int     result;
+    struct mk_list *head;
+    struct flb_config_map_val *mv;
     struct flb_mp_map_header mh;
+    struct flb_slist_entry *eopt_key;
+    struct flb_slist_entry *eopt_val;
 
     /* options is map, use the dynamic map type */
     flb_mp_map_header_init(&mh, mp_pck);
@@ -152,6 +156,20 @@ static int append_options(struct flb_forward *ctx,
     msgpack_pack_str_body(mp_pck, "fluent_signal", 13);
     msgpack_pack_int64(mp_pck, event_type);
 
+    /* process 'extra_option(s)' */
+    if (fc->extra_options) {
+        flb_config_map_foreach(head, mv, fc->extra_options) {
+            eopt_key = mk_list_entry_first(mv->val.list, struct flb_slist_entry, _head);
+            eopt_val = mk_list_entry_last(mv->val.list, struct flb_slist_entry, _head);
+
+            flb_mp_map_header_append(&mh);
+            msgpack_pack_str(mp_pck, flb_sds_len(eopt_key->str));
+            msgpack_pack_str_body(mp_pck, eopt_key->str, flb_sds_len(eopt_key->str));
+            msgpack_pack_str(mp_pck, flb_sds_len(eopt_val->str));
+            msgpack_pack_str_body(mp_pck, eopt_val->str, flb_sds_len(eopt_val->str));
+        }
+    }
+
     if (metadata != NULL &&
         metadata->type == MSGPACK_OBJECT_MAP &&
         metadata->via.map.size > 0) {