diff --git a/example-conf.yml b/example-conf.yml
index 452432e..2d31130 100644
--- a/example-conf.yml
+++ b/example-conf.yml
@@ -214,6 +214,10 @@ servers:
         # This setting is EXPERIMENTAL as of PyLink 1.2.x.
         #encoding: utf-8
 
+        # InspIRCd specific option: determines whether we should display WHOIS extensions by overriding
+        # InspIRCd's default WHOIS formatting. This defaults to true for consistency with PyLink 1.x.
+        #force_whois_extensions: true
+
     ts6net:
         ip: ::1
 
diff --git a/protocols/inspircd.py b/protocols/inspircd.py
index af83680..dee673b 100644
--- a/protocols/inspircd.py
+++ b/protocols/inspircd.py
@@ -613,6 +613,9 @@ class InspIRCdProtocol(TS6BaseProtocol):
         # <- :70MAAAAAA IDLE 1MLAAAAIG
         # -> :1MLAAAAIG IDLE 70MAAAAAA 1433036797 319
 
+        if self.serverdata.get('force_whois_extensions', True):
+            return {'target': args[0], 'parse_as': 'WHOIS'}
+
         # Allow hiding the startup time if set to do so (if both idle and signon time is 0, InspIRCd omits
         # showing this line).
         target = args[0]