diff --git a/CONTRIBUTORS b/CONTRIBUTORS
index b293b066..fc916edc 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTORS
+++ b/CONTRIBUTORS
@@ -3351,6 +3351,7 @@ Dietmar Spingler <d_spingler@gmx.de>
  for reporting a problem that led to a fix with EMM pids not being properly reset for
  CAMs that need to receive the TS
  for suggesting to add the channel name to log messages that reference a channel
+ for suggesting to provide a way of using no DVB devices at all
 
 Stefan Schallenberg <infos@nafets.de>
  for adding the functions IndexOf(), InsertUnique(), AppendUnique() and RemoveElement()
diff --git a/HISTORY b/HISTORY
index b1683a1e..6f725f6a 100644
--- a/HISTORY
+++ b/HISTORY
@@ -8631,3 +8631,5 @@ Video Disk Recorder Revision History
   pressing '0', the default no longer applies to that folder. Repeating timers no
   longer write a ".sort" file into a recordings folder to have the recordings sorted
   by time.
+- The command line option -D now accepts the value '-' (as in -D-), which prevents
+  VDR from using any DVB devices (suggested by Dietmar Spingler).
diff --git a/dvbdevice.c b/dvbdevice.c
index 9321f16d..0a57c67c 100644
--- a/dvbdevice.c
+++ b/dvbdevice.c
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * See the main source file 'vdr.c' for copyright information and
  * how to reach the author.
  *
- * $Id: dvbdevice.c 3.14 2015/01/14 12:09:19 kls Exp $
+ * $Id: dvbdevice.c 4.1 2015/04/18 14:21:58 kls Exp $
  */
 
 #include "dvbdevice.h"
@@ -1064,6 +1064,7 @@ cOsdItem *cDvbSourceParam::GetOsdItem(void)
 
 // --- cDvbDevice ------------------------------------------------------------
 
+bool cDvbDevice::useDvbDevices = true;
 int cDvbDevice::setTransferModeForDolbyDigital = 1;
 cMutex cDvbDevice::bondMutex;
 
@@ -1234,7 +1235,7 @@ bool cDvbDevice::Initialize(void)
             if (Exists(Adapter, Frontend)) {
                if (Found < MAXDEVICES) {
                   Found++;
-                  if (UseDevice(NextCardIndex())) {
+                  if (useDvbDevices && UseDevice(NextCardIndex())) {
                      if (Probe(Adapter, Frontend))
                         Used++;
                      }
diff --git a/dvbdevice.h b/dvbdevice.h
index 0a148ce3..5ae4952f 100644
--- a/dvbdevice.h
+++ b/dvbdevice.h
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * See the main source file 'vdr.c' for copyright information and
  * how to reach the author.
  *
- * $Id: dvbdevice.h 3.5 2014/03/16 10:38:31 kls Exp $
+ * $Id: dvbdevice.h 4.1 2015/04/18 13:57:27 kls Exp $
  */
 
 #ifndef __DVBDEVICE_H
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@ private:
   static bool Probe(int Adapter, int Frontend);
          ///< Probes for existing DVB devices.
 public:
+  static bool useDvbDevices;
   static bool Initialize(void);
          ///< Initializes the DVB devices.
          ///< Must be called before accessing any DVB functions.
diff --git a/vdr.1 b/vdr.1
index 845cfa33..3d908201 100644
--- a/vdr.1
+++ b/vdr.1
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 .\" License as specified in the file COPYING that comes with the
 .\" vdr distribution.
 .\"
-.\" $Id: vdr.1 3.6 2015/02/17 13:43:24 kls Exp $
+.\" $Id: vdr.1 4.1 2015/04/18 14:25:07 kls Exp $
 .\"
 .TH vdr 1 "19 Feb 2015" "2.2" "Video Disk Recorder"
 .SH NAME
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ Run in daemon mode (implies \-\-no\-kbd).
 .BI \-D\  num ,\ \-\-device= num
 Use only the given DVB device (\fInum\fR = 0, 1, 2...).
 There may be several \fB\-D\fR options (by default all DVB devices will be used).
+If \fB\-D\-\fR is given, no DVB devices will be used at all, independent of any
+other \-D options.
 .TP
 .BI \-\-dirnames= path [, name [, enc ]]
 Set the maximum directory path length to \fIpath\fR (default is the maximum value
diff --git a/vdr.c b/vdr.c
index 71a72f2e..0243a297 100644
--- a/vdr.c
+++ b/vdr.c
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
  *
  * The project's page is at http://www.tvdr.de
  *
- * $Id: vdr.c 3.16 2015/02/10 14:13:12 kls Exp $
+ * $Id: vdr.c 4.1 2015/04/18 14:22:47 kls Exp $
  */
 
 #include <getopt.h>
@@ -301,7 +301,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                     break;
           case 'd': DaemonMode = true;
                     break;
-          case 'D': if (isnumber(optarg)) {
+          case 'D': if (*optarg == '-') {
+                       cDvbDevice::useDvbDevices = false;
+                       break;
+                       }
+                    if (isnumber(optarg)) {
                        int n = atoi(optarg);
                        if (0 <= n && n < MAXDEVICES) {
                           cDevice::SetUseDevice(n);
@@ -536,7 +540,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                "  -d,       --daemon       run in daemon mode\n"
                "  -D NUM,   --device=NUM   use only the given DVB device (NUM = 0, 1, 2...)\n"
                "                           there may be several -D options (default: all DVB\n"
-               "                           devices will be used)\n"
+               "                           devices will be used); if -D- is given, no DVB\n"
+               "                           devices will be used at all, independent of any\n"
+               "                           other -D options\n"
                "            --dirnames=PATH[,NAME[,ENC]]\n"
                "                           set the maximum directory path length to PATH\n"
                "                           (default: %d); if NAME is also given, it defines\n"