diff --git a/engine/client/in_generic.c b/engine/client/in_generic.c
index 6058c9748..fd6f1ae7c 100644
--- a/engine/client/in_generic.c
+++ b/engine/client/in_generic.c
@@ -151,6 +151,8 @@ void joy_radialdeadzone_cb(cvar_t *var, char *oldvalue)
 #endif
 static cvar_t joy_radialdeadzone = CVARCD("joyradialdeadzone", "", joy_radialdeadzone_cb, "Treat controller dead zones as a pair, rather than per-axis.");
 
+cvar_t in_skipplayerone = CVARD("in_skipplayerone", "1", "Do not auto-assign joysticks/game-controllers to the first player. Requires in_restart to take effect.");	//FIXME: this needs to be able to change deviceids when changed. until then menus will need to in_restart.
+
 
 #define EVENTQUEUELENGTH 1024
 static struct eventlist_s
@@ -380,6 +382,7 @@ void IN_Init(void)
 	}
 	Cvar_Register (&joy_exponent, "input controls");
 	Cvar_Register (&joy_radialdeadzone, "input controls");
+	Cvar_Register (&in_skipplayerone, "input controls");
 
 	Cmd_AddCommand ("in_deviceids", IN_DeviceIDs_f);
 
diff --git a/engine/client/in_sdl.c b/engine/client/in_sdl.c
index c2f52ef3e..617d6ce30 100644
--- a/engine/client/in_sdl.c
+++ b/engine/client/in_sdl.c
@@ -162,7 +162,8 @@ static cvar_t joy_only = CVARD("joyonly", "0", "If true, treats \"game controlle
 //the enumid is the value for the open function rather than the working id.
 static void J_AllocateDevID(struct sdljoy_s *joy)
 {
-	unsigned int id = 0, j;
+	extern cvar_t in_skipplayerone;
+	unsigned int id = (in_skipplayerone.ival?1:0), j;
 	for (j = 0; j < MAX_JOYSTICKS;)
 	{
 		if (sdljoy[j++].qdevid == id)
diff --git a/engine/client/in_win.c b/engine/client/in_win.c
index 990132df6..1086274f5 100644
--- a/engine/client/in_win.c
+++ b/engine/client/in_win.c
@@ -447,8 +447,9 @@ static void INS_HideMouse (void)
 static int Joy_AllocateDevID(void)
 {
 	extern cvar_t cl_splitscreen;
-	int id = 0, j;
-	for (id = 0; ; id++)
+	extern cvar_t in_skipplayerone;
+	int id = (in_skipplayerone.ival?1:0), j;
+	for ( ; ; id++)
 	{
 		for (j = 0; j < joy_count; j++)
 		{