diff --git a/pandatool/src/mayaprogs/mayaToEgg.cxx b/pandatool/src/mayaprogs/mayaToEgg.cxx
index e6663692f3..b9f8134abc 100644
--- a/pandatool/src/mayaprogs/mayaToEgg.cxx
+++ b/pandatool/src/mayaprogs/mayaToEgg.cxx
@@ -66,6 +66,14 @@ MayaToEgg() :
      "egg object type of \"double-sided\" is set.",
      &MayaToEgg::dispatch_none, &_respect_maya_double_sided);
 
+  add_option
+    ("suppress-vcolor", "", 0,
+     "Ignore vertex color for geometry that has a texture applied.  "
+     "(This is the way Maya normally renders internally.)  The egg flag "
+     "'vertex-color' may be applied to a particular model to override "
+     "this setting locally.",
+     &MayaToEgg::dispatch_none, &_suppress_vertex_color);
+
   add_option
     ("trans", "type", 0,
      "Specifies which transforms in the Maya file should be converted to "
@@ -131,6 +139,7 @@ run() {
   converter._polygon_output = _polygon_output;
   converter._polygon_tolerance = _polygon_tolerance;
   converter._respect_maya_double_sided = _respect_maya_double_sided;
+  converter._always_show_vertex_color = !_suppress_vertex_color;
   converter._transform_type = _transform_type;
 
   vector_string::const_iterator si;
diff --git a/pandatool/src/mayaprogs/mayaToEgg.h b/pandatool/src/mayaprogs/mayaToEgg.h
index 0d5ebbe8b3..293af7bcff 100644
--- a/pandatool/src/mayaprogs/mayaToEgg.h
+++ b/pandatool/src/mayaprogs/mayaToEgg.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ protected:
   bool _polygon_output;
   double _polygon_tolerance;
   bool _respect_maya_double_sided;
+  bool _suppress_vertex_color;
   MayaToEggConverter::TransformType _transform_type;
   vector_string _subsets;
 };