diff --git a/mercurial/help/pager.txt b/mercurial/help/pager.txt
--- a/mercurial/help/pager.txt
+++ b/mercurial/help/pager.txt
@@ -26,3 +26,10 @@ you can use --pager=<value>::
   - require the pager: `yes` or `on`.
   - suppress the pager: `no` or `off` (any unrecognized value
   will also work).
+
+To globally turn off all attempts to use a pager, set::
+
+  [pager]
+  enable = false
+
+which will prevent the pager from running.
diff --git a/mercurial/ui.py b/mercurial/ui.py
--- a/mercurial/ui.py
+++ b/mercurial/ui.py
@@ -857,6 +857,7 @@ class ui(object):
         if (self._disablepager
             or self.pageractive
             or command in self.configlist('pager', 'ignore')
+            or not self.configbool('pager', 'enable', True)
             or not self.configbool('pager', 'attend-' + command, True)
             # TODO: if we want to allow HGPLAINEXCEPT=pager,
             # formatted() will need some adjustment.