diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3443d32..93b1c49 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -170,6 +170,8 @@ The built-in logging formatters are:
 
 * `logrus.TextFormatter`. Logs the event in colors if stdout is a tty, otherwise
   without colors.
+  * *Note:* to force colored output when there is no TTY, set the `ForceColors`
+    field to `true`.
 * `logrus.JSONFormatter`. Logs fields as JSON.
 
 Third party logging formatters:
diff --git a/text_formatter.go b/text_formatter.go
index d481686..95c3264 100644
--- a/text_formatter.go
+++ b/text_formatter.go
@@ -18,12 +18,14 @@ const (
 )
 
 type TextFormatter struct {
+	// Set to true to bypass checking for a TTY before outputting colors.
+	ForceColors bool
 }
 
 func (f *TextFormatter) Format(entry *Entry) ([]byte, error) {
 	var serialized []byte
 
-	if ttyutils.IsTerminal(os.Stdout.Fd()) {
+	if f.ForceColors || ttyutils.IsTerminal(os.Stdout.Fd()) {
 		levelText := strings.ToUpper(entry.Data["level"].(string))[0:4]
 
 		levelColor := blue