diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index e14501e77..ef65b4ab8 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ GNU coreutils NEWS                                    -*- outline -*-
   dircolors takes a new --print-ls-colors option to display LS_COLORS
   entries, on separate lines, colored according to the entry color code.
 
+  dircolors will now also match COLORTERM in addition to TERM environment
+  variables.  The default config will apply colors with any COLORTERM set.
+
 ** Improvements
 
   cp, mv, and install now use openat-like syscalls when copying to a directory.
diff --git a/src/dircolors.c b/src/dircolors.c
index 8bb4abfc4..5c9229962 100644
--- a/src/dircolors.c
+++ b/src/dircolors.c
@@ -271,6 +271,7 @@ dc_parse_stream (FILE *fp, char const *filename)
   size_t input_line_size = 0;
   char const *line;
   char const *term;
+  char const *colorterm;
   bool ok = true;
 
   /* State for the parser.  */
@@ -281,6 +282,11 @@ dc_parse_stream (FILE *fp, char const *filename)
   if (term == NULL || *term == '\0')
     term = "none";
 
+  /* Also match $COLORTERM.  */
+  colorterm = getenv ("COLORTERM");
+  if (colorterm == NULL)
+    colorterm = "";  /* Doesn't match default "?*"  */
+
   while (true)
     {
       char *keywd, *arg;
@@ -327,10 +333,17 @@ dc_parse_stream (FILE *fp, char const *filename)
           else if (state != ST_TERMSURE)
             state = ST_TERMNO;
         }
+      else if (c_strcasecmp (keywd, "COLORTERM") == 0)
+        {
+          if (fnmatch (arg, colorterm, 0) == 0)
+            state = ST_TERMSURE;
+          else if (state != ST_TERMSURE)
+            state = ST_TERMNO;
+        }
       else
         {
           if (state == ST_TERMSURE)
-            state = ST_TERMYES; /* Another TERM can cancel */
+            state = ST_TERMYES;  /* Another {COLOR,}TERM can cancel.  */
 
           if (state != ST_TERMNO)
             {
diff --git a/src/dircolors.hin b/src/dircolors.hin
index 0258cc067..673835201 100644
--- a/src/dircolors.hin
+++ b/src/dircolors.hin
@@ -8,8 +8,11 @@
 # The keywords COLOR, OPTIONS, and EIGHTBIT (honored by the
 # slackware version of dircolors) are recognized but ignored.
 
-# Below are TERM entries, which can be a glob patterns, to match
-# against the TERM environment variable to determine if it is colorable.
+# Global config options can be specified before TERM or COLORTERM entries
+
+# Below are TERM or COLORTERM entries, which can be glob patterns, which
+# restrict following config to systems with matching environment variables.
+COLORTERM ?*
 TERM Eterm
 TERM ansi
 TERM *color*
@@ -207,3 +210,6 @@ EXEC 01;32
 .opus 00;36
 .spx 00;36
 .xspf 00;36
+
+# Subsequent TERM or COLORTERM entries, can be used to add / override
+# config specific to those matching environment variables.
diff --git a/tests/misc/dircolors.pl b/tests/misc/dircolors.pl
index 27fa2c5b6..6bb8b7463 100755
--- a/tests/misc/dircolors.pl
+++ b/tests/misc/dircolors.pl
@@ -42,6 +42,14 @@ my @Tests =
      ['term-4', '-b', {IN => "TERM N*match\nowt 40;33\n"},
       {OUT => "LS_COLORS='';\nexport LS_COLORS\n"}],
 
+     ['colorterm-1', '-b', {ENV => 'COLORTERM=any'},
+      {IN => "COLORTERM ?*\nowt 40;33\n"},
+      {OUT => "LS_COLORS='tw=40;33:';\nexport LS_COLORS\n"}],
+
+     ['colorterm-2', '-b', {ENV => 'COLORTERM='},
+      {IN => "COLORTERM ?*\nowt 40;33\n"},
+      {OUT => "LS_COLORS='';\nexport LS_COLORS\n"}],
+
      ['print-clash1', '-p', '--print-ls',
       {ERR => "dircolors: options --print-database and --print-ls-colors " .
               "are mutually exclusive\n" .