diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index aab42fea..1a460344 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 2013-07-07  Jay Berkenbilt  <ejb@ql.org>
 
+	* qpdf: add --show-npages command-line option, which causes the
+	number of pages in the input file to be printed on a line by
+	itself.
+
 	* qpdf: allow omission of range in --pages.  If range is omitted
 	such that an argument that is supposed to be a range is an invalid
 	range and a valid file name, the range of 1-z is assumed.  This
diff --git a/manual/qpdf-manual.xml b/manual/qpdf-manual.xml
index b5748c24..334cf41e 100644
--- a/manual/qpdf-manual.xml
+++ b/manual/qpdf-manual.xml
@@ -1089,6 +1089,17 @@ outfile.pdf</option>
        </para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
+     <varlistentry>
+      <term><option>-show-npages</option></term>
+      <listitem>
+       <para>
+        Prints the number of pages in the input file on a line by
+        itself.  Since the number of pages appears by itself on a
+        line, this option can be useful for scripting if you need to
+        know the number of pages in a file.
+       </para>
+      </listitem>
+     </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
       <term><option>-show-pages</option></term>
       <listitem>
diff --git a/qpdf/qpdf.cc b/qpdf/qpdf.cc
index a2e165fb..876b150f 100644
--- a/qpdf/qpdf.cc
+++ b/qpdf/qpdf.cc
@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@ automated test suites for software that uses the qpdf library.\n\
 --show-object=obj[,gen]   show the contents of the given object\n\
   --raw-stream-data       show raw stream data instead of object contents\n\
   --filtered-stream-data  show filtered stream data instead of object contents\n\
+--show-npages             print the number of pages in the file\n\
 --show-pages              shows the object/generation number for each page\n\
   --with-images           also shows the object IDs for images on each page\n\
 --check                   check file structure + encryption, linearization\n\
@@ -1029,6 +1030,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
     std::string min_version;
     std::string force_version;
 
+    bool show_npages = false;
     bool static_id = false;
     bool static_aes_iv = false;
     bool suppress_original_object_id = false;
@@ -1284,6 +1286,11 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 	    {
 		show_filtered_stream_data = true;
 	    }
+            else if (strcmp(arg, "show-npages") == 0)
+            {
+                show_npages = true;
+                require_outfile = false;
+            }
 	    else if (strcmp(arg, "show-pages") == 0)
 	    {
 		show_pages = true;
@@ -1352,6 +1359,12 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
         }
 	if (outfilename == 0)
 	{
+            if (show_npages)
+            {
+                QTC::TC("qpdf", "qpdf npages");
+                std::cout << pdf.getRoot().getKey("/Pages").
+                    getKey("/Count").getIntValue() << std::endl;
+            }
 	    if (show_encryption)
 	    {
 		::show_encryption(pdf);
diff --git a/qpdf/qpdf.testcov b/qpdf/qpdf.testcov
index a29ae284..e78a4f4a 100644
--- a/qpdf/qpdf.testcov
+++ b/qpdf/qpdf.testcov
@@ -267,3 +267,4 @@ QPDF_optimization indirect outlines 0
 QPDF xref space 2
 qpdf pages range omitted at end 0
 qpdf pages range omitted in middle 0
+qpdf npages 0
diff --git a/qpdf/qtest/qpdf.test b/qpdf/qtest/qpdf.test
index 3589944a..1a6e44ad 100644
--- a/qpdf/qtest/qpdf.test
+++ b/qpdf/qtest/qpdf.test
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ $td->runtest("remove page we don't have",
 show_ntests();
 # ----------
 $td->notify("--- Miscellaneous Tests ---");
-$n_tests += 65;
+$n_tests += 66;
 
 $td->runtest("qpdf version",
 	     {$td->COMMAND => "qpdf --version"},
@@ -517,6 +517,12 @@ $td->runtest("check broken file",
              {$td->FILE => "invalid-id-xref.out", $td->EXIT_STATUS => 3},
              $td->NORMALIZE_NEWLINES);
 
+$td->runtest("show number of pages",
+             {$td->COMMAND =>
+                  "qpdf --show-npages 20-pages.pdf --password=user"},
+             {$td->STRING => "20\n", $td->EXIT_STATUS => 0},
+             $td->NORMALIZE_NEWLINES);
+
 show_ntests();
 # ----------
 $td->notify("--- Numeric range parsing tests ---");